Persistent Voices: Feminist Efforts to Engender Paradigms of Development in Jamaica

Suzanne Judith Lenon, B.A- Honours

A thesis subrnitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fiilfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario December 16 Ocopyright 1998, Suzanne J. Lenon National Library Bibliothèque nationale of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre refhncrr

Our hi8 Notre refhence

The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licencr allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distriiute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfichei£h, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique.

The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othenvise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation- This piece of research focuses on feminist contributions to meanings of development in Jamaica. Specifically it examines the various strategies and forms of feminist activism employed to engender both a dominant and a transfomative paradigm. 1 argue that the embrace of neoliberalism by the Jamaican state imposes a conservatizing force upon femuiist strategies and si-gificantiy shapes such activisrn within both paradigms. The terrain of social action is generally limited within such a political economy. Hence there is a de-politicizing of strategies to achieve gender equality within the dominant paradigm, and rnarginalization of cultural forms of expression in the transformativc paradigm. The neo-liberal political economy Merexacerbates and heightens unequal social relations among women based on race and class by limiting ability to participate, and by creating conditions in which these unequal relations are themselves reproduced by those working for a liberatory agenda.

iii For SheZagh and Thomas

Dearest... My life may seem rough and bare? but there is something to compensate one for every- hardship and trial. You must corne to see me! though, for it is the spirit of the West that charms one, and 1 can't convey it to you, try as 1rnay. It is a shy wi1d spirit and will not Ieave its native mountains and rolling prairies and_though I try to get it into my letters. 1 can't. 1 must warn you that if it once charms you it becomes an obsession and one grows very Lonely away from it. No Westemer who has felt its fascination ever is really content again in the conventional East.

Mary E. Inderwïck Pincher Creek, Alberta 1884 ACKNO WLEDGEMENTS

The writing of this thesis was far from being the linear process a table of contents suggests. For guiding me through the twists and turns of thesis writing' I would like to my thank my supervisor: Daiva Stasiuiis, for her critical thought? sound feedback, patience and support. 1also thank Kevin Murchie, my advisor, for his informed reflections and cornments, and for sharing so generously and enthusiasticaliy his knowledge about people and events in Jarnaica and the Caribbem.

1would like to acknowledge the Graduate Studies Research Fund for a travel gant which enabled a research trip to Jarnaica.

In Jarnaica, 1would like to thank the women I interviewed for taking the theto meet with me and for imparting knowledge in both a generous and critical manner. 1extend warm thanks to Sandra and Kevin Cooper for the warrnth of your welcome, great food, and for your generosity irr dl aspects of my stay with you. A special thank you to Melody Walker for responding to my information requests and for Eendship and humour.

In The Shoemaker and the Elves, the Brothers Grimm recount the tale of two benevolent elves who secretly toi1 at night to help a shoemaker through hard times. Even after the elves have danced their way out of the workshop, their magic remaïns to help the shoemaker and his wi5e ont0 a richer and more cornfortable life. Although no elves worked on rny thesis while 1 slept. family and many fiiends did nourish my mind and soul throughout the two yean of this project, and weave their magic to enrich my life in countless ways. In particular, I offer great thanks to my Morn and Dad, for words of encouragement, generous material and financial support, and for leading lives cornmitted to social justice; to Natasha Lenon, for re-kindled sisterhood and for your courage; to André Fontaine. for dishes washed groceries bought and most important, for your blessed fiiendship and walking with me in times of change; and to Franca Gucciardi, a cornrnitted feminïst, fiend e mia sorella neZZu lutta: you handled my joys, grief and stresses of thesis wTiting with clarity, humour and wisdom - Grnie, SF.

1 dedicate this thesis to SheIagh Lenon and Thomas Elbel, my sister and brother-in- law, whose unconditional and steadfast love, support, and encouragement propelled me fonvard. A huge, huge th& you for emotional sustenance, the You Go GN%I tape, arornatherapy massages, laughter, the AIS, and for following your dreams! Table of Contents

Page

Acceptance

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Table of Contents

List of Tables

Chapter One: Introduction

Chapter Two: Feminist Research Practice 2.1 Epistemological Frarnework 2.2 Methodological Framework 2.2.2 Positionality 3-22 Subjectivity 2.2.3 Qualitative Methods 2.2.4 Action-oriented Research 3.3 The Research Design 2.3.1 Getting Started: Inception of the Study 2.3 2 Gearing Up For Data Gathering 2.3.3 Gathering Data 2.3.4 Preparing for and Doing Andysis 2.4 Conclusion

Chapter Three: Elements of Dominant and Transformative Paradigms of Development 3.1 The Neoliberal Paradigm and the Politics of Development 3.1.1 The National Industrial Policy 3 - 1.2 International Competirion 3.1.3 Reduced Role of State 3.1.4 Social Policy 3 2 Contours of a Transformative Paradign 3 -2.1 Bnef Historicai Overview 3 -2.2 Contemporary Transformatory Meanings 3 -3 Conclusion

Chapter Four: Feminist Engagements with Development: The Theoretical Contributions 4.1 Theories of Women. Gender and Development: An Historicai Background 4.2 Overview of Women in Development Theory 4.2.1 Application of WID in the Caribbean context 4.3 OveMew of Gender and Developrnent Theory 4.3. I Application of GAD in the Caribbean contexq 4.4 Conclusion

Chapter Five: A Web of Complexity: Social Relations among Women 5-1 Correfations of Race and Class 5.2 Household-Domestic 5.3 Domestic-National 5.4 Transnational-Enclave 5.5 Conclusion

Chapter SU;: Engendering the Dominant Paradigm: The Consultative Group on Gender and The Women's Centre of Jamaica Foundation Mainstreaming Gender: The Historical Antecedents 6.1.1 Antecedents: The role of women's pressure groups 6-12 Institutional Antecedents Mainstreamuig Gender ïnto Economic Policy: The Consultative Group on Gender 6.2.1 Gains achieved in Mainstreaming 6.2.2 Limitations of Mainstreaming Engendering Social Welfare: The Women's Centre of Jamaica Foundation 6.3.1 Gains of the WCJF 6.3 -2 Limitations Limited Room for an oeuvre: Feminist Agency to Engender the Dominant Paradigm 6.4.1 Neo-Liberal Hegemony 6.4.2 Social Relations of Power: Class and Race Conclusion

vii Chapter Seven: Feminist Visions in a Transformative Paradigm: The Sistren Theatre Collective 7.1 Sistren Theatre Collective 7.2 Engendenng the Transformative Paradigm 7.2.1 Contributions 7.3 Marginalization and Commodification: Constraints of a Neo-liberai Context 7.4 Social Relations of Power: Sistren as a Cataiyst of Change 7.5 Conclusion

Chapter Eight: Conclusion

Bibliography

Appendix A: Research Project Proposal: Submission to the Carleton Ethics Comrnittee Appendix B: Announcement used for Recruiting Interview Participants Appendix C: List of Interview Participants Appendix D: Interview Questionnaire Appendix E: Consent Forms

viii List of TabIes Page

Table One SaIient hdicators of Neo-liberalism 46

Table Two Themes of a Caribbean Transfomative Paradigm 62

Table Three Cornparison of Women in Development and Gender and Development Theoretical Frameworks 73

Table Four Employed Labour Force by Industry Group and Gender 97 Chapter One: Introduction

Feminist activism and scholarship in the field of international development emerged

in a contest of social struggle and agitation in both the North and the South. Guided by

assumptions of solidarity and sisterhood. this activism and scholarship were bom out of an

urgency to develop solutions to the problems of survival faced by women in the Thhd World.

To this end. feminist acadernic and political practices have been the frst to point out the

gender impacts of national and international development policies on local political, economic and social structures.

Linking macro-econornics to experiences at the micro level of households, feminist practices attempt to integrate the personai and the political- private and public domains, the household and local and global economies, thereby articulating and re-conceptualizing definitions and meanings of development Indeed, the myriad of feminist engagements with the field of development studies has effectively questioned the ideology and paradi-m of

Western modemization and its utility for the political. econorric and social ernpowerment of wornen.

A diverse women's movement in the English-speaking Caribbean exemplifies feminist efforts to re-conceptualize development in the region and theîr oua particular countries. Here, ferninist voices are anchored in historical and current political econornic reaiities of this region. Caribbean women hwe created grassroots organizations to codkont economic restructuring and poverty; they have sought and built collaboration between women's NGOs and goverment-established women's bureaux, which in turn network Miith regiond university-based women's programmes. Caribbean women are aiso visibly active in 2

international fora- participating in the creation of feminist networks such as Development

Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN).

This study focuses on the strategies employed by feminist activists as they engage

with and contribute to debates over the meaning of development in Jarnaica. The terms of

the wider development debate are, on the one side. provided by a paradigm that seeh to

further the region's incorporation into the world economy, calling for a reduction in state

intervention and less support for measures to reduce poverty and other social inequities. On

the other side is a paradigm that seeks to elaborate development models aimed at achieving

social and economic equality. self-determination, and popdar participation in political

processes.

My aim in this thesis is to highlight and analyze the heterogeneity of voices engaging

in such a debate in Jarnaica. Such heterogeneity is testimony to the critical work of a broad

sector of wornen who define 'development' in their own terms, countering hegemonic and

androcentric definitions. Indeed women are not a homogeneous group; feminist goals have

ofien meant very different thïngs to women of different races and ciasses. An original theme

of the research interviews and questions was concemed with "ferninist development

discourse" in Jamaica. Over the course of the interviews it becarne apparent, however. that

there is no one singiar or coherent feminist development discourse in Jamaica.' For

example,

This concept of a feminist discourse ...1 don't think that it could be said that it exists

Baksh-Soodeen (1998) situates the dominant discourse within Caribbean ferninist politics @oth theory and practice) as Afro-centric, as feminism in the English-speaking Caribbean has given pre-eminence to the histoncal expenences and present day situations of Afio-Caribbean peoples. in the way that you project it. It has a more coherent ring to it the way you put it than esists... There are ideas developing wïthin movements of women in the context of the 1990s as against the 1970s. where we talked of "the women's rnovement". Today we can talk more about "movements of women". areas of sentiment and action among women that rnight converge (Vasseil. interview).

What exists. then, are a spectm of strategies and forms of feminist activism to engender

paradims of development. persistent voices that engage, challenge and subvert. The concept

of 'engendering' development paradigms is employed to denote feminist efforts to shift gender perspectives and women's cmcems fiom their marginal location. in both institutional and ideological terrns, to the centre of the development agenda; and to promote the rediinkinç of prionties and goals of development (Jahan 1995).

The existence of varied strategies and forms of feminist engagements with development raises the second aim of this thesis, namely to explore the power relations which constnict differences among wornen. An enduring feature of the Jamaican women's movement is divisions among women based on race and class. In conducting research. I wïshed to explore further the implications of such social relations for feminist political practices. In analyzing the interview data, 1 was confronted by the seemingly lack of more radical feminist initiatives and visions for change. There is limited room for manoeuvre at this particular moment in Jarnaka's history.

I argue in this thesis that the embrace of neoiiberaiism by the Jarnaican state imposes a conservatizing force upon feminist strategies and significantly shapes such activism. Its philosophical hegemony and its overbearing discourse of economics present formidable challenges to feminist development initiatives. This conservatizing force is manifested in a number of ways including a de-politicizing of strategies to achieve gender equality within 4 the dominant paradigm. and rnarginalization of cultural foms of expression within the transfomative paradigm. I also argue that the neoliberal political economic environment hrther exacerbates and heightens social divisions among women. It works to legitimize particular voices while excluding others. and creates conditions in which these divisions are thernselves reproduced by people working for a Liberatory agenda. The thesis is organized to develop my arguments as follows.

Chapter Two maps out the research practice of the thesis. 1 hi~dightdebates between feminist epistemologies and state my own epistemological position based on this debate. I outline key themes of feminist methodology, namely positionality, subjectivity, qualitative methods' and research for change. Each of these themes is pertinent to cross-cultural research, particularly in the field of development studies. In explonng each theme, 1tiighlight how each manifested itself within my own field research in Jamaica. The chapter then turns to a more detailed account and andysis of the actual process of undertaking the research irself. I examine the inception of the study; gearing up for data gathe~g;issues involved in

2oathenng the data: and finally preparing for and doing analysis of the data. Here. 1explore struggles and issues around interpretation of interview texts. Examination of the limitations of the research are woven throughout the chapter.

Chapter Three addresses the content of the debate over the nature of developrnent processes in Jamaica (and the Caribbean) which is often articulated with reference to paradigms. As such, this chapter provides a fiarnework of analysis which identifies key actors, salient themes and prevalent discourses within two development paradigms currently operating in Jamaica: a dominant paradigm premised on a neo-liberal philosophy. and a 5 trm~formativeparadigm premised on the notion of Iiuman-centred development. The first section of the chapter briefly traces the emergence of the increasingly hegemonic neoliberal paradikm in Jarnaica. Jarnaka's A'arional Indzrstrial Policy (1 996) is scrutinized to extricate the sdient themes, actors and discourses of neoliberalism. The second section deheates the contours of a transfomative paradigm. the actors involved and the themes articulated which seek to challenge the hegemony of neoliberalism.

Cliarting these paradigrns provides a sense of the rnacro contexts within which feminist strategies to engender development are deployed. Chapter Four elicits the salient themes in the debate between the two most influential feminist theones of development in

Jarnaica, namely Women in Development (WID) and Gender and Development (GAD). It fxst briefly traces the historicd background of WINID and GAD in order to contextualize their emergence in the field of international development. WID seeks to correct wornen's disadvantaged status within the prevailing mainstream development paradigm. GAD is situated within an alternative paradigm which seeks to transfomi current social, political, economic and gender reiationships. Chapter Four then provides a surnmw overview of WiD theory, focusing on its liberal feminist roots transported into the international arena. How

M'ID theory plays itself out in the Caribbean context as a rneans of understanding tvornen's expenences of development is also elaborated upon. Finally, the chapter delineates the principle tenets of GAD theory and then examines its application to understanding development fiom a gender perspective in Jamaica. Feminist theones of development have provided critical insights into the gender biases of development paradigms. The assurnptions inherent in the theoretical bodies of WID and GAD underpin feminist practice in Iamaica 6 with respect to engendering deveIopment paradigrns. Critically esamining them contnbutes to an understanding of the various forms and strategies employed in such a goal.

Chapter Five is concemed with illuminating the ways in which women are differentiated fI-om each other on the basis of race and class. These two s~cialrelations are a ubiquitous feature of feminism in Samaka. The chapter begins with a brief discussion on the correlation between class and race in Jarnaica. Tt then maps out the terrain of Jamaica's economy, distinguishing three spatial circuits to illuminate the partly autonomous. partly intersecting modes of economic re/production: the household-domestic? the domestic- national, and the transnational-enclave. This fiamework is employed here so to more fùlly siniate women as economic actors. The purpose of the chapter is to contextualize how the varied forrns of feminist agency as race and class correlations as wel1 as the various modes of economic re/production women participate in bear upon the character of feminist participation to engender development paradigms.

Chapter Six addresses ferninist efforts which seek to render economic and social elements of the dominant paradigm sensitive to gender issues. It examines two distinct efforts by feminists to integate gender issues into the prevailing dominant paradigm: the

Consultative Group on Gender which focuses primarily on mainstrearning gender into economic policy, and the Women's Centre for Jarnaica Foundation which focuses on social development within a neo-liberal paradigm. The chapter first bnefly traces the relationship between feminism and the Jarnaican state in order to contextualize the existence of feminist agency within this paradigm. It then outlines the activities of the Consultative Group on

Gender, cntically analyzing both the gains and limitations involved in mainstrearning gender. 7

The chapter proceeds to examine the gains and limitations of the Women's Centre of Jamaica

Foundation in its efforts to integrate a feminist perspective within the dominant paradism.

In Chapter Six. I argue that the hegemonic neoliberal philosophy guiding Jamaican

development policy shapes the form of women's movements. strategies undertaken. and the

spaces created for mobilization. First it presents enormous challenges for activism and

serves to weaken radical ferninist visions of change. Second, it impacts upon who is able to

participate in sustained activism and Unpinges upon whose voices and knowledge are heard

and deemed valid. As such, the current neoliberal political economy also heightens the

prevalence of relations of oppression arnong women based on race and class. Furthemore,

strategies deemed to be the most politically feasible at this time themselves exacerbate these

relations.

Chapter Seven analyzes one contemporary instance of feminist engagement with a transformative paradigm, narnely the Sistren Theatre Collective. Caribbean feminism as a whole has been central in shaping the meaning of a transformative development paradigm within individual countries and as a region. Through the use of testirnonies. participatory methodologies and by foregrounding women's experiences, Sistren imbues three principle tenets of the transformative paradigm, namely self-determination, equity and participation.

Chapter Seven discusses Sistren's history and current prograrnrning activities as well as its cultural approach. It examines some of the specific challenges posed by a neoliberal economy to Sistren's work, specificaily the marginalization of culture as a source of knowledge and the cornmodification of culture. Finally, the chapter argues that Sistren and its constituency challenge feminist activism in Jamaica specifically around relations of power and privilege, 8 and act as a catalyst for transforïning these.

Chapter Eight provides concluding rernarks about the thesis. It surnmarizes the principle findings of the research, reflecting upon the lessons that can be leamed frorn

Ferninist engagements with development in Jarnaica. Future areas for research are aiso highlighted. This research project has been a long journey and a process of learning with many twists and tums and moments of reflexivity. 'The following chapter examines more closely the research practice which informs the body of this study. Chapter Two: Feminist Researcb Practice

This chapter orients the reader to the various uifiuences shaping the knowledge produced in this thesis. The fxst section examines the manner in which debates in feminist epistemologies inform my research practice. Here 1 dso dari@ the epistemological framework guiding this research. The second section is structured around four key thernes of feminist perspectives on methodology and methods, narnely positionaiitv, subjectivity, qualitative methods, and research for change. Each of these themes is pertinent to cross- cultural research, particularly in the field of development studies. In explonng each theme.

1 highlight and explore how each rnanifested itself within my own field research in Jamaica.

The third and fuial section of this chapter is concerned with a detailed account of the research process itself. It explores issues involved with gathering and analysis of data, and some of the challenges involved in the interpretation of interview texts.

2.1 Epistemological Framework

An epistemology is a theory of knowledge, concemed with providing a philosophicai grounding for deciding what kinds of knowledge are possible and how to ensure that diese grounds are both adequate and legitimate (Madge a 4 1997). Tendencies within the dominant disciplines to marginalize feminist scholarship, the discovery of a pervasive androcentnsm in definirig concepts, methods, and interpretations of research, and the recognition of the political implications of the research process in the re/production of lmowledge have inspired feminist interest in theones of knowledge and a quest for a ferninist epistemology (Hawkesworth 1989). The question of what might constitute premises of a IO

"ferninist epistemology" has produced three divergent responses: feminist empiricism.

feminist standpoint and feminist postrnodernisrn. al1 which legitimize women as knowers.

albeit in differing ways.

Feminist empiricism accepts the tenets of phiiosophical realisrn which posits the

existence of the world independent of the human knower. It argues that sexism and

androcentrisrn are identifiable biases of individual knowers that can be elimuiated by saicter

adherence to existing rnethodological noms of scientSc and philosophical inquiry (Harding

199 1); only "bad science" is responsible for their retention in the research process. The eradication of these social biases is a necessary precondition for the achievement of objective knowledge. removing distorting lenses of particular observers (Hawkesworth 1989).

Feminist standpoint theories draw upon histoncal materialism's daim that oppressed groups possess a particular standpoint on inequality. The notion of standpoint refers to

Yoroups having shared histories based on their shared location in relations of power (Collins

1997). Thus standpoint ferninist analysis is grounded on the specific perspective thar emerges fÎom women's oppression, and the knowledge generated through women's social positions makes visible a deeper level of reality allowing for a fuller comprehension of the social world (Harding 1991; Rose 1994; Smith 1987).

Feminist standpoint constructs new fields of meaning by putting the previously marginal at the centre of the theoreticai terrain by listering to women's voices. As such, it is a subject-centred process. In creating knowiedge, 'woman' is the subject, the agent of knowledge, "a source of privileged accounts of the world" (Ferguson 199 1: 328). Differences are set aside as less important than that which connects women. Feminist standpoint is an Il

epistemological approach which constitutes women as a unity in order to compare thern uith

men (Ferguson 199 1: 333).

There is a growing understanding of the cornplexity of standpoints as women exist

across race and class and many other social divisions (ethnicity, sexuality, etc.). Feminist

standpoint theory in some instances has rnoved away fiom the early arguments of the

primacy of gender to constructing standpoints across these differences. Patricia Hili Collins

(1990: 22), for example, defines bfack wornen's standpoint as "those experiences and ideas

shared by mcan American women that provide a unique angle of vision on self. community, and society". Class, race, and gender necessarily structure the individual's understanding of reality and hence inform al1 knowledge claims.

Drawing upon a postrnodem deconstruction of ideas concerning tnith, knowledge, power? self and language that have characterized Western thinking since the Enlightenment, feminist postmodernism advocates a profound skepticism regarding a ûuth about reaiity and universalizing claims about the existence. nature, and powers of reason (Hawkesworth 1989).

Instead, these theorists cal1 for a focus on localized reliable feminist knowledges which produce "maps of consciousness" reflecting the various categories of gender. class. race and nationality (Haraway 1988; Flax 1990). "There is no single feminist standpoint because our maps require too many dimensions for that metaphor to ground our visions" (Haraway 1988:

590). Hence. a feminist postmodern epistemology "discredits the idea of an epistemologically significant subjectivity in the name of which women can act in the world" (Goetz 1991 : 134).

In other words, the very possibility of fernale identity is rendered problematic by the deconstruction of the concept of 'woman' as a function of discourse. When the female subject 12

is dismantled. female identity is revealed as a shifiing social construct. Instead ofbeing a

source of privileged accounts of the world. women are "...data to be accounted for..."

(Ferguson 1991: 328).

While there is reason to believe vision is better "frorn below", there also Lies a senous

danger of romanticizing the less powerful; the standpoints of the subjugated are not

"innocent" positions (Haraway 1988: 584). The task then for a feminist postmodem

epistemology is to deconstnict meaning and knowledge claims in order to open a space for

the emergence of countermeanings (Ferguson 199 1).

No single one of these epistemologies can address al1 of the concems that have

fuelled feminists' tum to epistemology. The totalizing and homogenizing elements of

feminist standpoint &-hichproduces a privileged perspective on the world are at odds with

the insights generated by the struggle of women of colour. that there is no uniform "women's

reaiity". Yet. if wornents identities are constmcted, shifiing and fluid, what becomes of the

potential for collective resistance and struggle that women's voices provide?

There is a recognition in the Iiteranire (Sylvester 1993; Feramon 199 1; Hawkeswoah

1989) that neither feminist standpoint nor feminist postmodernism is sufficient on its own.

and that both are cmcial to feminist episteqology. Feminist postmodemism, for example.

is dependent on standpoint theory in order to have something to deconstnict. "Does

postmodernist feminism not need more steady standpoints to light paths away fkom

privileged accounts of 'the' world toward 'worlds' on the margins?" (Sylvester 1995: 953)

Conversely, feminist standpoint is strengthened by a ferninist postmodern approach so as not to "subdue dissonances inconvenient to its unities" (Ferguson 1991: 337). That is, 13

while the articulation of feminist standpoint is a radical project in that it proposes alternatives

to patriarchal arrangements. feminist postmodemism insists on not treating the female

subject or 'the cornrnunity' as a unified whole (Ferguson 199 1).

Both epistemologies are postures toward power and knowledge that need each other.

Feminist standpoint as epistemology is dedicated to illuminating power relations (for example. patriarchy) in which claims to knowledge are embedded. It seeks to identi@ ways that male power and the production of androcentric knowledge have combined in the past to marginalize and belittle women's experiences (Harding 1997). Feminist postrnodemism as epistemology abandons the struggIe for universalist knowledge, searching instead for historically silenced voices in the creation of feminist knowledge. It heightens our understanding of the integral relations between power and knowledge, and how these relations "constitute us as subjects in a determinate order of things" (Hawkesworth 1989:

r 55).

The relationship between these two theories provides a useful epistemological grounding for this thesis. Jamaican feminists provide accounts of past and current development processes as part of efforts to constnict feminist perspectives of development. within both mainstream and transfomative paradigms. The source of these knowledges is situated in women's historical and contemporary standpoints within colonial, racist, capitalist and patriarchal systerns of domination. Women, however, are also complicit in these systems and it is thus important to account for the ways in which race, class, and gender corne together to structure woinen in different and shifung positions of power and privilege. These positions impact on the way women "experience" development and how they participate in 14

engendering development. Such an episternoIogical framework thus allows for uncovering

the shifting positions of power within feminist projects.

An epistemological fiamework based on a conversation between feminist standpoint

and postmodemism infoms rny methodology: as it draws attention to the link between power

and knowledge. Roorn is made for locating the researcher as an actor in the research process.

Doing so opens the way to recognition of the power relations within which the researcher is

located. Some authors have argued that westem ferninists project a privileged identity - an

identity modelled on a white, westem feminist experience and divorced fiom the social

conte- and relations of class, ethnicity and race in which women are situated - as a referent

for the rest of the world. Mohanty (199 t), for exarnple, draws attention to the existence of

neo-colonial discourses within Western feminist scholarship which have discursively

colonized the material and historicai heterogeneities of the lives of women in the Third

World. This ha.had the effect of producing and reproducing through the term "third world

women". a compositeo singular, oppressed object for analysis (Ong 1994). As I have

undertaken research in and about a different culture, such an epistemological framework

draws attention to rny own position and subjectivity as a Canadian feminist researcher.

This fknework is also important in the process of interpreting interview texts for data analysis. This will be dealt with in more detail in a subsequent section of this chapter.

Briefly though, the interview texts are taken as sources of knowledge, as realities that cmbe accessed. At the sarne time, this epistemological fhmework aIso makes explicit the processes of decision making which produce the interpretation of findings. It aims for reflexivity, Le.. a continuous critical reflection on the research process. 15

Finally. this epistemological framework is evident in rny mehods. My questio maire reflects a recognition that women in Jamaica are not hornogeneous. It acknowledges the power relations which shape interactions between women. and the fact that development may mean different things for women of different class and racial backgrounds.

2.2 Methodological Framework

Ferninist scholarship has been at the forefiont disputing the dominant social science tenets of objective, value-free. detached research. Feminist epistemologies challenge a patriarchal and androcentric conceptualization of social reality; feminist methodologies challenge positivist frameworks employed in creating such knowledge (Maguire 1987: Wolf

1996: Reinharz 1992). Such methodologies insist that research is never an abstract process of knowledge seeking. Radier. the social identities of both the researched and the researcher are considered central. Furthemore, feminist methodology maintains that there are power relations embedded in these social relations. Specifically, operations of power in research are discernible in three interrelated dimensions: (1 ) power differences stemming from different positionalities of the researcher and the researched; (2) power exerted during the research process through determinine the coursc of t&e research; and (3) power exerted during the post-fieldwork period of data analysis, data interpretation and writing of fmdings (Wolf

1996).

The dilemmas, quandries and contradictions arising for the feminist researcher conscious of the above power relations in a research situation can be explored through an analysis of four key themes of ferninist methodology: positionality, subjectivity, qualitative 16

methods. and action-oriented research. These themes are woven throughout ferninist research

literature. and collectively forrn a methodological tiamework usehl to me in addressing my

research question. This framework is able to evaluate research cnrically and to interpret it

in its hl1 cultural, social. political and economic context. This is especially judicious when engaging in cross-cultural research. as this research project does. Such research O ften constmcts Thiid WorId women as "subjects" in subordinate positions to First World feminist researchers. While power cannot be erased completely fiom the research process, the four themes of this rnethodological framework enable me to critically engage with the dynarnics of undertaking such a research project, reconstnicting for the reader choices made along the way and questions asked throughout. The chapter now turns to an examination of each therne in the context of thk research project.

2.2.1 Positionality

Positionality is a crucial element in ferninist methodology where facets of the self are articulated as positions of power. Feminist researchers have become increasingly self- conscious of the ways in which their biographies, politics and relationships may influence the data coilected and thus the information that becomes coded as knowledge (Rose 1997;

Wolf 1996; Mblinyi 1992). Doma Haraway's work has been important in theorizing the notion of 'positionalityf. According to Haraway (1988: 587), "positioning is..the key practice in grounding knowledge". The claim to universal knowledge, "distanc(ing) the knowing subject fiom everybody and everything" (Haraway 1988: 58 l), transcendence and splitting subject and object embody what Haraway (1988: 582) calls the 'god-tnck'. In contrast, situating or positioning knowledge clairns allow researchers to become answerable for what we see and "irnplies responsibility for our enabling practices" (Haraway 1988: 587). The researcher appears then. not as an invisible. anonymous voice of authority but as a real. histoncal individual with concrete specitic desires and interests (Wolf 1996).

While reflecting on one's position as a researcher is a beneficial exercise' Jayati La1

(1996: 207) wams against the potential paralysis of action and analysis that ensues fiom attentiveness to authorial strategies of self-reflexivity:

A reflexive and self-critical methodological stance can become meaningful only when it engages in the politics of reality and intervenes in it in some significant way. Otherwise, we nsk the charge of self-absorbed navel gazing.

Daphne Patai, too. gives a forcefûl critique of positionality where self disclosure on the part of the researcher sounds like apologies worn as tokens of sharne and repentance or badges of pride. For Patai, consciousness of location and position is necessary but not sufficient for research to challenge prevailing systems of inequality. "Ir does not redistribute income. gain political rights for the powerless, create housing for the horneless. or improve health" (Patai f 994: A52).

Miile La1 and Patai warn us of the dangers of narcissistic centring, accounting for one's position has been glaringly absent in the field of development studies generally. and in the "women and development" iiterature specifically. Reflecting upon one's position in this acadernic field is important as it has histor-ically valued Northem expertise, asserting its superiority in addressing development issues in the South (Escobar 1995; Parpart 1995;

Mohanty 1991). Critically and self-consciously examining one's multiple positions involves the recognition that we are each irnplicated in systems of oppression that profoundly structure Our understanding of others (Razack 1998). Insertion of ourselves into the test may not

substantially decentre the hegemony of Northem power and knowledge in Development

Studies. but it can serve a purpose other than navel gazhg or badges of pride - a building of

cntical consciousness.

Positionality raises issues of epistemic pnvilege' for the researcher engaging in cross-

cultural research. As a white. rniddle-class, Canadian feminist researcher. cm my

interpretation. analysis. representation and conclusions be considered valid? Should only

Jamaican women have the right to examine their own rnovements and stmggles? La1 (1 996) argues that the notion of epistemic privilege essentializes "insiders", reducing them to

homogeneous entities. Mohan (1994: 226) points to instances of self-reflexivity which lead to the position of knowledge being vacated for the other, fetishized as having privileged

access to the cornpiete knowledge the centre can never have:

According absolute epistemological privilege to a margin (usuaily constituted in essentidkt terrns) is to rei@ and fetishize it and, ironically, to reconstitute it as centre in a discursive system reigned by the symbolic capital of the oppressed.

As noted in the previous section, feminist postrnodern epistemology is sceptical of 'truth' and totalizing knowledge daims: it reminds us that knowledge is always rnediated by the knower's location in a particular social context. In its emphasis on situated knowledges and concems with who is included and excluded in the creation of knowledge, such an

epistemological approach requires continual questioning of our own positions and claims.

The question remains. however, how one cm understand, responsibly and

' Uma Narayan (1989) defines epistemic privilege as the critical insights generated by oppressed groups into the conditions of their own oppression. respectfully. another's point of view. Perspectives generated fiom cross-cultural research are simply that. perspectives. As one interview participant remarked to me,

Remember one of the things, when you do a thesis as you do coming fiom another society. is to speak with your voice?your perceptions to locate that ...I think when you -te it is useful to do that and it gives you the credibility to be able to have the experience and write fiom if and also allow somebody else a different experience. It ailows al1 of us space to write differently (Mohammed. interview).

The researcher brings to her interaction with research participants. her social location, culture? motivations, limitations, ignorance, skills, education, resources, and outside perspective that may be usehl as well as troublesome (Gorelick 1996).

1 want to account for four intertwined persona1 positions that shaped my fieldwork and inte~ewrelationships: my nationality (Canadian), my race, my class, and rny feminist identity. First there was not an assurned notion of 'sisterly' solidarity in rnost of my interview scenarios. I was positioned as a Canadian researcher, with al1 the privileges in the global poIitical economy that accompany this identity. I found rapport was more easily established in interview situations afier I had sipalled somehow not a non-hierarchical, non-exploitative shared-sex relationship but rather an acknowledgement that 1 occupy a privileged position and role in the global arena.

Linda Cw(1996: 139) urites about her experiences as a woman of Caribbean origin. having lived most of her adult life in North America, undertaking research in the

Caribbean. Zn criticaily analyzing her insider/outsider status over the course of her field work, she cornrnents

Being fiom the Caribbean was not enough. Because 1 had spent most of my Iife in North Arnenca, 1 had to fight the erroneous assumptions that 1could only examine the society through impenalistic lenses and dso ùiat 1 had taken on the distorted white, middle-class feminist notions of what the ernancipation stmggle for the majority of the world's women meant. Each step of the way I fought the ideological power of neocoloniaiism and impenalism. Ironically, a white woman researcher would not necessarily have had the same negative perceptions applied against her. Certainly. she would not have experienced any overt expressions: whiteness would have somehow given her more privile_ge. ifnot Legitimacy.

My whiteness did confer privilege. 1 believe. and this will be discussed momentady:

nonetheless the fact remains that 1 needed to address that I was a Canadian, a First World

feminist, coming to "study" Jarnaica. In handing out interview consent forms at the beginnïng

of a session, for exarnple, 1was called upon to state my research topic as well as goals for

undertaking such a project. 1 interpreted this as a cal1 to reco-pïze the reality of North-South

reiations particularly in the area of knowledge production.

Each interview session may have been the first time 1 met each participant but the

encounters were not fiesh ones. where we started fiom zero as one human being to another. each innocent of the other (Razack 1998). Rather, much of what we know about developing countries is generated by Northem research and international financial institutions. and mediated by the interpretations of men, dl which shape what can be known. thought, and

said about the Third World. Feminist scholars. for their part. have actively participated in reproducing the binary of the civilized and western woman and her oppressed Third World sister. Furthemore, countries of the North still economically and militarily dominate those of the South. Canada is part of the impenalizing North in its relations with its aboriginal

peoples; it is a nation which polices its borders with respect to immigrants and rehgees

while denying its role in helping to create the conditions which force people to leave or flee;

and. specifically relevant to diis research, Canada has a long history of ancillary colonialism

in the Commonwealth Caribbean (Paragg 1988; Tennyson 1990; Guy 1990). 1understand my 21

position as a Canadian undertaking research in and about Jamaica to include these contexts.

The issue of race is a complicated one in my methodology and field work. Race

infuses itself into the research process and into the interview situation. It does not simply

exist as an object of study or a variable in the andysis; it is also a characteristic of the

researcher (Edwards 1990). 1had expectations that dif5erences of race would be much more

verbalized in the inteniews, and to be positioned as a white Canadian wornan. 1was certainly

conscious of positioning myselfas such, particularly as there is little if any theorizing or

discussion of race in the field of development studies. Perhaps part of being positioned as a

Canadian includes the element of race, as Canada is viewed as a predominantly white society.

1 sense that race was a dent characteristic of the research relationships. The rnanner

in which race is intertwined with class. and sliin colour corresponds with socio-economic stanis and prïvilege. were discussed as processes stmcturing women's lives and interactions with each other. But these issues were not articulated in the interview relationships. 1was not as conscious or knowledgeable about the intricacies and meanings of race in Jamaica as perhaps 1should have been prior to undertaking the field work. 1 can only sumiise whether this would have made any difference to the inte~ewrelationships or not. Such knowledge, however, would have provided a reference point for questions and observations. 1 am extremely thankful for a personal conversation with two women the last night of my stay in

Jamaica, and for an interview with Honor Ford Smith, both of which dealt with race in an illuminating and educational manner. The persona1 conversation centred on struggles over issues of identity and what it means to be black in Jamaica. The interview provided moments of reflection on the silence around the issue of race in Jamaica:

It is a very threatening discussion to people. When you think that Jamaica is a society which has produced some of the rnost fundarnental African nationalist philosophers like Garvey, it must be that race is very fundarnental: and Rastafana which is a race- based religion. So clearly it is vet-y fundamental (Ford-Smith? interview).

These encounters were pivotal to my gaining some understanding of the history of race dynamics in Jamaica and of the struggle to corne to tems with the legacy of slavery. They also aaiculated the interlockhg of race and class as a salient feanire stnicturing the relations of power between members of Jarnaican society, an insight which assisted in the analysis of my research data.

Class is a third aspect of my position in this research. For dl but one of my inte~ews

I do not believe that it was a barrier to the research relationship. The majority of women 1 interviewed were in middle-class positions. My language and somewhat academic jargon were understood. They spoke to me in "standard" English. In only one interview. with a mernber of the Sistren Theatre C~llective~was 1 extremely conscious of a gulf between us, based on class. whicli is tied up with race and language. It manifested itself most cleariy in communication. At times 1had difficulty understanding her and comprehending expressions; the langage and wording of the interview questions appeared at tirnes to be inzccessible to her as she made use of a dictionary.

A fourth and fmal reIevant aspect of my position is rny identiv as a feminist. as it has influenced my research interest as well as infonned the interviews. 1defme feminism broadly as a movement to end sexism and sexist oppression, and also as a movernent which engages one to senously address oneself in relation to an entire structure of domination of which patriarchy is but one part. Thus my feminist politics operates on the assumption that power 23 relations profoundly shape interpersonal encounters. A large part of my feminist political practice involves developing and promoting critical consciousness around rny own and other's compliciq and participation in interlocking systerns of oppression. including racism. classism and the subordination of other wornen. There is Iittle chance of disturbing relations of domination unless we consider how relations of power such as race and class structure our own subject positions (Razack 1998). This ferninist consciousness has been a tool in my feminist political organizing work. It has been a guide in my sojourn into academia, and bears upon the choice of subject matter for this thesis and informed its development over the past two years,

My identity as a feminist also informed the interview relationships. "Ferninist" is not always or necessarily the operative definition of the strong and vibrant "movements of women" (VasseIl, interview) that exist in Jamaica. In a discussion on the impact of feminist activism, one interview participant said,

A lot of Caribbean women would tell you "1 am not a ferninist". 1 wouldn't Say that, but a lot of Caribbean women would because they would Say "1 am not involved in those theoreticai discussions and discourse. 1 know the reality of my life and 1 struggle against the reality of my life". 1 think that is what a lot of wornen would Say .... A lot of women would Say to you, "1 am not in any ferninist movement. I am just fighting for the realities of my life" (McKenzie, interview).

Differing meanings and understandings of ferninism and feminist agency stimulated engaging discussions with inteniew participants. 1 felt no hostility towards my explicit positioning as a ferninist. Rather it provided a point of departure for the interview participants to illuminate the diverse strategies, appearances and forms of ferninism operative in Jamaica. 24

2.2.2 Subjectivity

One of the major challenges with which feminist epistemologies confront mainstrearn science and social science is a powerfûl critique of positivism. Methodologically, positivism encourages distance and non-involvement between the researcher and researched. and assumes that the researcher can objectively see: judge. and interpret the life and rneanings of hisher subjects (Wolf 1996).

In contrat. inherent to feminist methodology and research is the recognition of the subjective experience of the research process. There is a re~o~gnitionthat the researcher is positioned in a particular relationship of power in relation to the researched. As such, developments and innovations in feminist methodology to reduce the impact of power relations have suggested numerous alterations of traditional data collection techniques including interviews. oral and life histones. and participant observation. Ferninist researchers seek to allow for dialogue. mutual exchange of uiformation, and development of a relationship during an interview session (Wolf 1996; Reinharz 1992).

In conducting fieldwork in Jamaica, my relationship with the wornen 1 interviewed was central in data collection. Three inter-related issues arose in the course of my interviews which relate to this relationship and to the subjective experience of the interview: an unequal power structure; vulnerability; and the spirit of the relationship.

During the course of the interviews, subjectivity and positionaii~.were intertwined to generate an unequal power structure. My position as a graduate student fiom a developed country was one negotiated both by myself and the interview participants. Recognizing that

I held a certain arnount of power in the interview session, I did what 1could to address it. 1 25 did not overtly assume a relationship of sisterhood or solidarity based on possible common es~enencesas women. Instead 1made verbal attempts to acknowledge that it is something that must be buiit and worked towards. I took the time to esplain my goals for the research. and 1 bepan the interview sessions with a persona1 introduction. The interview sessions followed more or less the structure of the interview questionnaire; however 1 encouraged free-flow dialogue and exchange of ideas throughout and was not hstrated by fiequent interruptions and disruptions in a session. Sessions were concluded with an opportunity for the women to pose questions and make comments on the research. Tliis is taken up in section

2.3.3 of this paper. I do not want to create the impression that interview participants were in any way powerless as they ail had power to irnpart or not impart their knowledge, and controlled the content and extent of knowledge and information they divulged.'

Vulnerability on the part of the research subjects results fiom a lack of control of the interview situation. What did 1 do to Iessen it to the best of my ability? I stressed confidentiality and had a consent form that was given at the beginning of each interview. It was made clear that participants could end the interview at any time and could request the tape recorder to be shut off, 1 was willing to listen to feedback and their own cornments on rny reseach focus. Vulnerability may esplain in part the diff~cultyin establishin,= contact with one interviewee. Initial contact was made whiIe 1 was still in Canada, and fiom the beginning 1 sensed resistance to meeting with me. 1 had to go into much detail about what it was that 1 wanted, why 1 thought it was important and why 1thought her opinions would

Indeed, some of the inte~ewparticipants were university professors and researchers with greater status in those tenns than myself. 26 be useN to the research. Mer three atternpts at making contact by telephone while in lamaica. I stopped because 1believed that 1 would be "pushing" too far and crossing some son of un-named boundary if 1 continued my attempts. Eventually she made telephone contact with me, leading to an eventual telephone interview. During this moment. I again took pains to reiterate the goals of the project and why 1 considered her thoughts and opinions important to my research. Her resistance spoke to me of one of two things (or maybe both). Either she did not consider the research project important enough or there was no desire to take a risk by agreeing to be interviewed. 1 perceived much hidden emotion on certain issues duRng the course of this particular inte~ewso there may have been resistance in opening up to me. To reduce these feelings of vulnerability 1 reassured her that I \vas eiiciting a spectm of voices and her criticism of certain issues would give me a better understanding and balance.

One area where 1 reco-g;nized risk-taking and vulnerability in al1 the interviews was the discussion about power. These women imparted their views, in an open and forthright mamer? on global power structures, power relations between women and men. and on the exercise of power arnong Caribbean feminists. In retum. I was honest about my own musings and anempts to muddle through this issue in my own ferninist politics in Canada. For myself. and 1 think for the women I interviewed, this was the most engaging and stimulating part of the inteniew.

The interview is more than an instrument of data collection; it is also a sharing of ideas, philosophy and expenences (Kirby and McKenna 1989). But what is the basis for such sharing? The development of a relationship and the spirit in which one enters the research 27

process and an interview session is contested in feminist iiterature on methodolog. In

deSing the tenets of positivism and objectivi~.feminist researchers have sought to break

down the hierarchical and potentially expIoitative relationship between researcher and

researched by cultivating fiiendship. sharing, and closeness that would lead to richer pictures

of women's lives (Mies 1993; Lugones and Spelrnan 1983; Kirby and McKenna 1989). Some

argue. however. that the relationship can never be egaIitarïan or reciprocal. Reinharz (1 992)

contends that feminist scholarsf striving for empathy and intimacy should not be confused

with friendship. While feminist researchers may attempt to equalize relationships while in

the field through empathic and fkiendly methods, these methods do not transform the

researchers' positionality or Iocationality in the global political economy. Indeed. because of

distance and time. rnost Eendships cultivated during field research are short-lived. (Wolf

1996).

Only one interview session was held with each woman, although I spent time with

one of them in a non-workhon-academic environment, and followed up on clarification and

information gathering with others. So 1would hesitate to name our relationships ' fnendship'.

Nonetheless. the sessions were at times very animated, particularly around the issue of

power, and relaxed. The short time I spent in the field prevented the development of closer

bonds. In the end. 1have control over the information they passed on to me and the reins of

power are in rny hands as 1have walked away with data analysis and interpretation under my

control. 28

2.2.3 QuaIitative methods

The selection of the research method is a critical aspect of a research project and is

based on what kind of Somation is sought. from whom. and under what circumstances

(Kirby and McKema 1989). My research ernploys pnrnady qualitative methods of data

collection. Wanting to explore processes of engagement and contribution of Jarnaican

wornen to rneanings of developrnent necessitated a research tool that would elicit information

and ailow for interaction and dialogue. Semi-stnictured interviews allowed for realization

of these goais and capturing the information 1required. Intewiews offer researchers access

to people's ideas. thoughts, and mernories in their own words rather than in the words of the

researcher (Reinharz 1992). Research based on interviews also brings in the subjects of the

research. which makes interviews social events and research more clearly a social process

(Holland and Ramazanoglu 1994).

Feminist researchers have pre ferred using qualitative methods such as the open-ended

interview as a way of allowing for different ways of knowing which do justice to the

complexity and indetemiinacy of human expenence (Wolf 1996). "Giving voice" to wornen through interviews has been part of the effort to counter the masking of women and their

eqeriences through positivist rnethodologies and approaches. "Giving voice" and "allowing" women to speak is, however. a problematic concept in the context of First UrorldiThird

World research. Indeed, the language of "giving" or "allowing" women to speak suggests that

First World ferninists are yet again wielding their hegemonic power to allow Third World subjects an audience (Spivak 1988, cited in Wolf 1996). In working with the transcripts of

rny interviews, I do not mzrely "give voice" to the views of the participants. Mer dl, it is 29

I who formulated and posed the questions. I who transcribed the interviews and read them.

1 who selected the materials to be placed in the final tee.

"GiWig voice" or the process by which interview participants are represented in the research report raises an important issue for the rnethod of interviewing, namely interpretation. The interpretation of interview matenal is a power laden process. 1 want to ensure that my research results fairly and accurately reflect the aspects of social life that I clah they represent (Acker, Berry and Esseveld 199: 74). 1also want to create space for the diversity, complexity and contradictions of interpretations. This issue of interpretation is

Merelaborated upon in section 2.3 -4 conceming research analysis.

2.2.4. ,4ction-oriented Research

Research with the goal of change is prevalent in recent literature on feminist methodology. Ferninist research with the desire to create meaningfül change, generate awareness of how societai structures and processes oppress women. and to empower is intimately linked with the political aims of the wornen's rnovement (Acker, Barry and

Esseveld 1996).

My role as researcher was not one cf an initiator or catalyst for change in the lives of the women 1 interviewed. This was not my goal and I am not cornfortable with the neo- colonial intrusions such roles awaken in me. Mies (1993: 38) states that women who are cornrnitted to the cause of women's liberation cannot be satisfied with giving the social sciences better, more authentic and more relevant data. For Mies, consciousness-raising is the prirnary motivator of feminist research. I find this highiy problematic as in my case it 3 0

would imply that 1. a First World white ferninist researcher. need to raise the consciousness

of my Jamaican research subjects about the conditions of their iives! In fact. the opposite

happened on many occasions: it was my awareness which grew with respect to issues such as the dynamics of feminism in Jamaica and sites of struggle over meanings of development.

So my research is not action-oriented in the participatory sense of the word. Does this negate its political impact? Can the data collected contribute to an agenda of change? 1would argue that for such an agenda, it is important to understand people's cntiques of neoliberalism, why such critiques are articulated in a particular way, what is pennitted at partïcular historical moments, and why alternatives rnay be diacult to formulate in particular instances. It is critical to discem who says what, where they are located in the mosaic of social relations of power, and through what mechanisms positions of power are secured. This is valuable knowledge as exploration of the ways meanings of race, class and gender come togetlier to structure women in different positions of power and pnvilege is a strategy in unsettling relations of oppression and domination.

It is my hope that 1will be able to establish some sort of feedback loop with interview respondents which couid lead to dissemination of research findings. There is also the consideration of pubiishing articles based on this thesis in publications accessible to

Jamaican and Caribbean women. By delineating in public fora the processes by which wornen engage with development in issues in Jamaica, my hope is to contribute to feminist research on development which attempts to create transnational political projects and alliances across the North-South divide. 31

2.3 The Research Design

Chapter Two now tums to an analysis of the phases of research. narnely getting started; gearinç up for data gathering; gathering data: and preparing for and doing analysis.

These particular phases are drawn f?om Kirby and McKenna (1 989). The goal of this third section is to map out the steps 1 took. clearly demonstrating how they were appropriate to addressing the research question. Constraints and obstacles 1 faced will be woven throughout the discussion.

2.3.1 Getting Started: Inception of the Study

Feminism is the terrain where acadernia and political practice converge for me. A combination of Women's Studies and Development Studies as academic disciplines have shaped my understanding of local and global power relations. It has developed rny consciousness about relations of pnvilege and complicity in relations of subordination. At the same tirne? I am involved in ferninist politics and activism in Ottawa which seek to counter the hegernony of neo-liberal discourses in Canada through work in the anti-poverty movernent and as an educator in the anti-violence community. This research project was undertaken then as part of the journey towards greater understanding of feminist visions of development.

Why was Jamaica chosen as a site of study and analysis? 1was farniliar with literature coming fiom the Caribbean on die search for sustainable models of development which are people-centred. Reading this literanire revealed a substantial amount of feminist thought and

r agency conûibuting to this search. In talking with people about the Caribbean as a possible 32 site for research. it kvas suggested to me that Jarnaica might be a fdtful place to do research on this issue. The country was also the most accessible for me in terms of travel cost: 1 also knew someone there who was able to' early on' assist me in identifying potential interview participants as well as locating affordable accommodation. Thus early on in the process. concrete decisions were made as to the possible direction of the research: that the research wouid be Iimited to Jarnaica and not include other larger English-speaking Caribbean (for esample. Trinidad and Barbados) as this was al1 my budget would allow fora4During my fieldwork 1 discovered a long history of movement and exchange of ideas and resources between ferninist activists fiom differing countries within the region. Expanding the research question to inchde ot!!er countries would have resulted in different discoveries and knowiedges.

2.3.2 Gearing up for Data Gathering

Once a research focus was decided upon. 1 began the task of searching for willing participants and preparing interview questions. I submitted a research project proposa1 to the

Carleton ethics cornmittee (see Appendix A). 1 obtained a list of addresses and phone numbers of women involved in the women's movernent in Jamaica from a contact at Match

International. 1 ais0 wrote to a woman izi Jamaica whorn 1had met in Ottawa in the Spring of 1996, outlining my research topic and requesting narnes.

The critena 1 employed to determine potential interview participants include (a)

4 This research was financed for the most part at my own persona1 cost, with a small contribution fkom the Graduate Studies Research Fund of Carleton University. 33

Erpeiience: here 1 was looking for a varie- of involvement and knowledge in engaging with feminist issues around development based on class. race. academic. non-govemment. culnirai work. etc. (b) Geographic Zocation: as rnentioned above, Jamaica was chosen in part because it kvas af5ordable to me in terms of travel. The wornen I contacted were located in Kingston.

Thus anotlier decision kvas made that determined the direction of this research. namely it was urban based. 1 view this as a significant limitation to the research as Jamaica is still very much a d country and many living in urban centres still have connections to rural areas.

Nonetheless. dl the principal women's organizations in Jamaica and principal players are located in Kingston. Moreover. choosing the research site was done in part to ease the risks involved in traveling alone on public transportation in Jamaica. The cost of other forrns of travel were prohibitive. (c) Access: it was possible to locate and make contact with participants as teIecommunication (telephone. fax) between Ottawa and Kingston was not an obstacle: and (d) Responsiveness and willingness to participate in interviews and share their experîences: rnost wromen were extremely receptive and willing to participate in an inte~ew,1encountered some resistance fiom one interview participant; another participant agreed to participate although she wondered aioud at the beginning of the inte~ewwhy she cvas contacted as she had moved out of the deveiopment field. 1was not aware of this when

I made contact with her to establish a possible interview; an interview was set up with one participant active in govemment politics prior to leaving Ottawa. Due to time constraints on her part, she sent another woman in her place; fuially, an interview was set up with one participant but upon arriving at the interview site, she had to cancel. Ultimately we were unable to reschedule another interview because of personal reasons on her part. This was 34 disappointing as she had tremendous knowledge of and experience with mainstreaniinç

Cgender into 0Ecia.i development policies, one of the salient questions of this thesis.

Once 1had narnes of potential participants, I proceeded to contact women by mailing out a Ietter of introduction (see Appendix B) which also described the goal of the research project, and how it was being conducted. I also asked the women if they could recornmend names of other appropriate participants in this project This proved to be quite usefùl in identfiing participants. Upon receiving responses fiom women (most responded by fax), I followed up with a telephone cal1 to acknowledge receipt of response and to confïm an inte~ewthe. Some inte~ewsessions were set pnor to leaving but most were established once 1arrived in Jamaica. 1wrote letters of introduction to 18 women and interviewed a total of 12, one of the interviews being held in Toronto (see Appendix C).

I maintained control over the process of formulating the interview questionnaire. The participants were not involved in any way in its creation. The main reason for this was tirne? in that I wanted to accomplish my fieldwork in a relatively short period of tirne. This decision irnpacted on the nature of this research project and the data gathered, and is a definie limitation. Obviously, when questions are determined fiom the outside. they may not always be pertinent to what is being lived and expenenced by those being inte~ewed.While

1 received some positive feedback on some of the questions, they were not always clearly understood. This issue is taken up in the ensuing section.

The questions were fomulated with the goal of researching feminist understandings of developrnent and why engagements with it are organized as they are. The questionnaire was divided accordingly into two parts (see Appendix D). The questionnaire was transmitted 35 via facsimile to participants prior to my departue in order to inforrn them fiilly about the nature of the questions and to allow them to reflect on the answers.

2.3.3 Gathering Data

The prirnary data-gathering technique was interviews, conducted over a penod of three weeks. The interviews were located either in the participant's office or in her home. The inte~ewscommenced with a personal introduction. 1talked about the issue of consent and had consent foms for them to sign (see Appendix E). This gave the interviews a somewhat formd tinge. They were tape recorded and lasted anywhere fiom to 120 minutes; some were longer than others because of nurnerous interruptions.

In interview sessionsothe research participant is not passive, in sirnply talking about her experience in response to a set of questions. She may howbetter or clearer questions to ask of gaps in the interview-plan' and even of potential participants (Kirby and McKema

1989). This is evident in my expenence as 1received substantial feedback on my questions in a nurnber of areas. First. some apprehension was articulated around the concept of

'ferninist discourse of development'. One respondent stated her unease and unfarniliarity with the concept:

The term 'femuiist discourse' filled me with a little bit of embarrasment.--1certaidy dont feel 1participate enough in what you cal1 feminist discourse. I feel that it is too hrfaluted a word (McKenzie, interview).

Another questioned the coherence of the term within the Jamaican context:

This concept of a feminist discourse... 1 don't think that it could be said that it exists to the extent in the way you project it (Vassel, interview).

Comments such as these opened the doors for engaging conversations on meanings of feminism. Second, respondents challenged the use of the word 'development' in the context

of the first interview question. "What do you see as the current development mode1 in

Jarnaica?"

The first comment I had when 1 saw your questionnaire was that it is not a development mode1 at all. It is not a mode1 for development. it is a mode1 for underdevelopment (VasseIl, interview).

and

I hesitate to cal1 it a development mode1 because it gives credibility to the current or popular or dominant paradigm that says that structural adjustment is development (Wedderburn, interview).

These comments, coupled with respondent's analysis of the history of the Jamaican political economy provided reference points when 1 undertook the research and wrïting of chapters

Four and Five which are concemed with development paradigms and the circuits of the

Jamaican economyorespectively. They also propelled me to historically locate my research questions so as to better gasp current social relations. Third, there was substanrial discussion over the types of alternatives being zticulated within the context of a hegemonic neoliberal paradigm. These discussions significantly impacted upon the focus of the research as 1 originally sought to investigate feminist contributions to the struggle for alternative development paradigms. The information imparted by the respondents sensitized me to the fact that there exists feminist agency within the dominant paradigm that also needed to be accounted for and understood. This data ultimately added to the complesity of the research project. Findly, in a conversation after one interview, one participant questioned the appropnateness of Jamaica as a case study for die research project, stating that there were perhaps other arenas such as the Caribbean Policy Developrnent Centre in Barbados which 3 7 might prove more useful for researching Caribbean development alternatives.

Different interview situations cal1 for different kinds of interaction between the researcher and the participant. Both have the freedom to choose the End of interaction in which they are willing to engage and indeed whether they want to continue in a specific inte~ewsituation (Kirby and McKenna 1989). Interviews conducted in office settings were more formal than those conducted at the participant's home. One interview participant requested not to be tape recorded which proved to be chdlenging as my energies centred more on ensuring that I was writing as much dom as possible than engaging in reflective dialogue. One inte~ewwas conducted via the telephone which raised another set of issues such as more distant and Iess spontaneous interaction due to lack of eye contact or body language.

My days and tirne in Kingston were structured around the interviews. Concerted effort was made, howeve- to gather secondary sources that wodd have been difficult. even impossible. to access in Canada. Two of these documents, namely the 1VationaZ Indzcirrial

PoZicy and Engenderîng the National IndzrstriaZ Policy were subject to a content analysis upon arriva1 in Canada. I made use of the Iibrary of the Consortium School of Graduate

Studies (University of West Indies) and 1 spent several mornings there, reading and photocopying. Through the Centre for Gender and Development Studies, I \vas able to obtain some tapes of Symposia held on related issues. 1 made use of Kingston's daily newspapers, including The Gleaner and The Dai& Observer in order to remain updated on current events.

Finally, Melody Waker of Women's Media Watch has been a continual source of information, sending items upon request. I am indebted to her for this. 3 8

Reflexivity is the tendency of feminist researchers to reflect upon. examine criticaliy.

and explore analyticaliy the nature of the research process (Mbilinyi 1992). I wrote a daily journal to replarly record and reflect my observations, conversationsl and interpretations of

the daily events. It \vas a useful way to identi- gaps in my knowledge and additional people to be interviewed or consulted,

Overall. the plan for gathering data was appropriate and provided the information I required. InteMews allowed for feedback and discussion on key issues. Managing the data included listening to interviews on tape in the evening and clariQing any points with the participants in the following days. Four copies of the transcribed text were sent to interview participants upon request.

2.3.4. Preparing for and doing analysis

There was a two month gap between data collection and the beginnïng of data analysis due to personal circumstances upon my return to Ottawa. One interview in Toronto. however. was conducted during this period. Towards the end of October (1996). 1 began transcribing the interview tapes word for word which engaged me once again with the research. The notes fiom one phone interview and the one un-recorded face to face interview were transcribed also.

I read through each tcanscript several times, making surnmary notes in the rnargins.

1 organized the interview material by themes pertaùiing to the major questions of the thesis.

This resulted in the data being broken into the following categories: current developrnent paradigm, alternatives, ferninist agency in both paradigrns, its impact; cornrnents on race and 3 9 class; reflections on power. This proved usehl as a tool to draw links between the transcripts. The post-fieldwork pei-iod was aiso a tirne where 1 read a wide body of literature regarding- both historical and contemporary social, economic. cultiral?political and religious aspects of Jamaican society. This assisteci in contextualizing the issues arising £tom the intentiew material.

As mentioned in section 2.2.3: the interpretation of interview transcnpts was a huge issue for me. An entry in my research journal reflects some of my struggle: "Fear of interpretation, editing, not reading it right, superimposing. How do 1 ask the right questions of my data? How do I make sense of what they are doing?" Deciding whetheq or how, we can arrive at authoritative conclusions about the nature of other people's experiences is problematic and laden aith power.

Holland and Ramazanoglu (1994: 125) state that

(t)he many possible ways of interpreting interview rranscnpts face feminists, like other researchers, with a problem of validity. More baldly, we can be questioned about what sort of tmth we can attnbute to our conclusions. Coming to conclusions is not just a process of following niles of method to the end point of a research project, but a very active and complex process of social construction that raises questions about what we mean when we daim that feminist knowledge shouid be believed,

Holland and Ramazanoglu suggest that researchers should treat conciusions about data as a social process. This would highiight interpretation of interview texts as a political, contested and unstable process between the lives of the researchers and those of the researched. It would also underscore the process of interpretation as a site of struggle at a critical point of the research and one on which the presence of the researcher has a profound effect. My

"evidence" for how women are creating rneanings of developrnent and why such agencies 40 are organized as they are required some process of interpretation. Wornen's accounts have

not just rcmained as such but have been actively interpreted to create knowledge about the processes involved in engendering development paradigms. Interpretation based on rny feminist epistemological position derives insights from both ferninist standpoint and feminist postmodemism, as discussed in section 2.1. This position contends, on the one hand. that there is a material reaiity which can be accessed through the interview text. On the other hand, it also holds that there are diverse and heterogeneous voices to be accounted for in creating valid knowledge.

One exarnple of interpretive problems 1 encountered with the interview texts is with respect to the notion of alternatives. The interpretation of data as a process is filtered through my own values and beliefs and 1stmggled with what 1heard defined as alternatives to the dominant neo-liberal paradi,% of development. An entry in my research joumal questions:

"what arn 1assuming about alternatives? maybe my conception of power is too sirnplistic. too dualistic. How do 1 rnake sense of what they are doing, of what they have told me? of the fact that there seems to be no "active" alternative?" Working through the interview texts entailed re-examining some of my notions of the exercise of power. Wiping away a monochromatic notion of power revealed struggle, compromise and accommodation. negotiation, and strategic cornpliance.

The act of interpreting the interview matenai raises the issue of reflexivity. My research journal notes: "1 don't want to patronize and fa11 into the trap of glorieinç, you know 'These women are so great', like in some literature I have read. Am 1making excuses?"

I was and am confronted in the writing of this thesis and in the presentation of my "findings" 41 with rny own biases and my own privileges. Engaging in the process of interpreting data and presenting the findings compelled elements of reflexivity as 'doing analysis' is a dialectic process. My position, subjectivi~,values and beliefs have thoroughly informed this research project. At the sarne the. the content of the interviews and thuiking through issues raised in the interviews have significantly contributed to my feminist political beliefs over the last two years, particularly around issues of power, feminist process, accountability and

'diversity'.

2.4 Conciusions

This chapter has delineated the epistemological and methodological frameworks which will structure investigation into ferninist efforts to engender development in larnaica.

It situates the thesis within a feminist epistemology based on a relationship, or 'conversation' between feminist standpoint and feminist postmodem theones. This epistemologicd fiarnework will prove usefùl for investigating feminist efforts to engender development paradigms as it draws upon the standpoints of women in their experiences of dislodging androcentric knowledge claims about what development means. At the sarne time. this frmework draws attention to the shifting positions of power operating within such feminist projects. It calls attention to the social relations of power which underpin feminist efforts in concrete ways and hence the salient themes.

This chapter lays out a methodological framework based on positionality. subjectivity , qualitative rnethods and research for change. Andysis of these four key themes exemplifies the many operations of power embedded in research design, in interview 42 encounters and in analysis and interpretation of data. The act of reflexivity in the process of analyzing and interpreting data could have been expanded to allow for distribution of intemiew transcnpts for comments and feedback, and/or second-round interview sessions.

Time and financial constraints hindered this fiom actualizing. By focusing on the issue of

"process" in research methodology, the researcher acknowiedges this and demonstrates steps taken to address power dynamics at the micro Ievel of the interview. Furthemore, this framework allows the reader access to rationale for decisions taken, thereby allowing her to evaluate the research project critically and to interpret the arguments and findings within a holistic context.

Finaily, this chapter offers a detailed and candid discussion of the research process itself. It has examined the specific phases of a research project and demonstrated their appropriateness to addressing the research question. Reading and learning about someone else's trials and tribulations in conducting research can prove beneficial for funire research endeavours. It is hoped that analyses of this particular piece of research will provide useful information, tips for process, and reflective expenence to people wishing to conduct future research in Jamaica and in other cross-cultural contexts. Chapter Three: Elements of Dominant and Transformative Paradigrns of Development

Around the world. diverse social and political movements are struggiing to corne to tems wïth the globalization of capitalism and the transnationalization of social. political and cultural processes, what Robinson (1996: 12) cdls the 'Fundamental dynarnic of our epoch'.

The increasingiy hegemonic discourse of dobal capitalism is re-shaping the terrain of social action. posing deep constraints as well as opening new possibilities. This chapter seeks to explore the processes of capitalist globalization in Iamaica and the presence of opposition to it.

As such? this chapter provides a framework of analysis that identifies key actors, salient themes and prevalent discourses within two cornpeting paradigms of development.

A paradigm of development is a constellation of lheorïes, questions, procedures and ways of thinking about the concept of developrnent which generate knowledge for development policy and action. Development paradigms wax and wane over tirne, developing in response to specific historical conditions. Thus, particular histoncal junctures may be characterized by the predomiilance of one paradigm over another (Rahman 199 1; Long 1992).

This chapter is concemed with two different development paradigms currently openting in Jamaica: a dominant paradi= premised on neoiiberal philosophy, and a transformative paradigm premised on the notion of human-centred development. These two pmdigms differ fundamentally in their assumptions, in how to make sense of social reality. in what is labelled problematic, and in what methods are preferred for action (Maguire 198 7).

Both paradigms, however, do share a similar discourse predicated on economics? in which the conceptuakation of poveriy and solutions for its amelioration and eradication are

43 44 prirnarily economic (Ramphall 1997). Yet here they also diverge. The dominant paradigm is homogeneous in its ascnption to the fiee market unfettered by state intervention; the transformative paradigm is multi-layered and heterogeneous. consisting of aspects which problematize social reality outside the economic realm.

The first section of the chapter bnefly traces the emergence of the increasingly hegemonic neoliberd paradigm in Jamaica. Jamaica's Narional Industviul Policy, promoted by the curent PNP government as that which will "thmst Jarnaica fonvard into the twenty first century" (Wedderburn, interview), is scrutinized to exincate the salient themes, key actors and operative discourses of neoliberalism. The second section focuses on the contours of a transformative paradigm which is continually constmcted by a broad range of actors in the English-speaking Caribbean; thus it is not only specific to Jamaica. A bnef historical overview is offered, tracing the intellectual history of Carïbbean radical development thinking. The stage is then set to scruthize contemporary transformative meanings, the actors involved and the themes/discourses aaicuiated whicb seek to challenge the hegemony of neoliberaiism. Mapping out these two paradigms provides a framework through which feminist agency and engagements with development in Jamaica will be analyzed in subsequent chapters.

3.1 The Neoliberal Paradigm and the Politics of Development

For the greater part of the twentieth century, the English-speaking Caribbean has occupied a peripheral position in the global system of capital and has been characterized by hi& levels of poverty. Developrnent thinking and practice have been aimed explicitly at the 45 elimination of poverty in the region. In the post World War II era. and wÏth the process of

decolonization, redistributive politics and the elevation of the state as a primary economic actor was accepted as the nom-

Over the past decade, however. the English-speaking Caribbean, has witnessed a generalized decline of statist development policies that emphasized centrai state comrnitment to social welfare, regionai integration, protection of industries? self-reliance and multilateralist trade, investrnent and aid policies (Dietz and Pantojas-Garcia 1994: 19). A definitive shifi in the paradigm guiding development policy in the region, and in Samaica specifically, has occurred with the emergence of an increasingly hegemonic discourse of neoliberalisrn which cdls for tighter integration of the region into an increasingly globalized capitalist economy,

The origins of the embrace by Jamaican govemments of neoliberal economics are faund in the entry of MFand Wodd Bank stabilization and stmctural adjustmen~prosams in 1977. They marked a tuming point in the economic management of the counhy with the government "transfomed into the local executing authority of programmes designed by the

Washington-based agencies" (Levitt 199 1: 24). These supra-national economic planning agencies are key actors within this paradigm. The inception of the Caribbean Basin Initiative

(CBI) in 1984 Mermarked the rise of neoliberalisrn throughout the region. It was designed to induce a senes of economic changes and adjustments that were congnient with US interests in the global process of capitalist restructuring during the 1980s. It was dso employed as a political instrument to reward or punish declared socialist regirnes in the

Amerkas (Marshall 1996; Hyett 1993). The MF and World Bank adjustment polices 46

together with the CBI promoted a transformation in the region's export structure_re-defininp

it as a major cornpetitive export platform for US labour-intensive manufactures and agro-

industrial products @ietz and Pantojas-Garcia 1994). In the present historical conjuncture.

with US attempts to restructure its regional hegemony in the Arnencas through NAFTA and

further integration with other Latin Arnerican countries Like Chile. the region's structural

position is again being reconfïgured within the international systern (Marshall 1996).

As early as 1977, restmctured global capitalism and the ideological ascendancy of

neoliberalism have together shaped a new paradigm of 'development' for ~amaica'.

Neoliberalism is concemed with promoting the benefits of international specialization in the

production of cornmodities for the global economy, intensifjkg the already initiated process

of export-led industnalization (Dietz and Pantojas-Garcia 1994). Three of its principal characteristics pertinent to Jamaica are outlined in Table One.

TabIe 1: SaIient Indicators of Neoiiberalism

man emphasis on international cornpetition as key to economic growth and progress;

*a belief in the supenority, efficiency, rationality, and dynamism of the market to allocate resources, and hence a greatly reduced role for the state; and

ma major reorientation of sociai welfare away fiom redistributive concems towards more productivist and cost-saving concerns.

(Sources: Vilas 1996; Dietz and Pantojas-Garcia 1994).

5 1 place the word development in parentheses here because, as demonstrated Mer in this chapter and in subsequent chapters, there is considerable hesitancy among some social actors to equate neoliberdism with any notion of development - 47

3.1.1 The National Industriat Policy

Jamaica's National Indim-ial Policy (NIP), brought out in 1996 by the curent PNP govemment exemplifies the country's definitive embrace of a neoliberal economic philosophy. It is a significant document because it

...is intended to provide the necessq basis for a c1ea.q coherent, and consistent set of policies to guide the Jamaican economy on a path of renewed growth and development. It is to pave the way for our entry into the 2 1st century (Govemment of Jamaica 1996a: v).

There are four inter-related objectives and subsequent policies fiarning the NIP: a stable and predictable socio-economic environment favourable to foreign investrnent6 based on a mucro-economic poZicy of monetary controls, Bank of Jarnaica autonomy, and a Social

Contract; growth and diversificaiion via international competition of strategic sectors of the

Jarnaican economy through an indz

NIP according to the indicators found in Table One.

6 That social stability is viewed as a pre-requisite for economic growth is evident in an initiative of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC). In response to a World Bank report indicating that political violence in Jamaica is a disincentive to overseas and local investment, the JCC launched a petition in August 1996 demanding that politicians make a major effort to curb political armed conflicts (Gleaner, August 18, 1996). The initiative, received much media attention. Content andysis of newspaper articles (August 12-2 1, 1996) reveals that while there was a willingness to sign the petition among the populace, there was also skepticism about the JCC's motives: that it was in response to the World Bank and not to the Jamaican comrnunity (Daily Observer, August 12);cynicism that the JCC is concerned now that financial investment is affected (Gleaner, August 18); and questionhg the JCC's neglect of socio-economic conditions as the roots of violence (Gleaner, August 16). 48

3.1.2 International Cornpetition

One of the salient characteristics of neoliberdism is its emphasis on international cornpetition. For Jamaica in the 1990s. the imperative to be intemationally competitive is replacing the former goal of development (Dietz and Pantojas-Garcia 1994). This shift in discourse is evident by comparing the objectives of Jamaica's Five Year Development Plan

1990-1 995 with the National Industrial Policy. The former articulates quite clearly a

" development imperative" (PIOJ 1990: 7), Le., addressing hi& levels of poverty. social dienation and skewed income distribution. "The view is that economic development must be a means to social development" (PIOJ 1990: 7), with the welfare of the people given primacy in the development policy. mie the market economy and the private sector are reco-@zed as the main vehicle for economic growth, the imperative of economic policy is to wards social developrnent. In contrat, the NIP document resonates with the imperative to be intemationally competitive. A count of the words "development" and "international competition" in key sections of the NIP reveds quite clearly this shift in discourse: in

Chapter One. "The Rationale of Indusûial Policy", "international competition" is used three times, "developrnent" zero; in Chapter Two, The Strategy of Industnal PoIicy". "international cornpetition" is used nine times, "development" zero.

The fundamental rationde driWig the industrial strategy and indeed the entire Policy matrix is based on the ideology and discourse of international competition. For example. the

NIP States:

Far-reaching transformations are currently taking place in the world economy, such as to alter fundamentally the conditions of competition that confiront us as producers and as a nation. Al1 countries... must strive ...to adapt to the changing circurnstances in order to keep up with or ahead of the competition, or else lose out in the competitive race" (Govemment of Jamaica 1W6a: 16).

Moreover,

In this changed environment, what must drive the new approach and what then distinguishes it fiom al1 previous policy. is the focus on international competitiveness as the key element of policy (Govenunent of Jamaica 1996a: 19).

The crucial premise of international competition and trade liberalization is comparative

advantage, that is, "specializing in those activities which give a country a leg-up on the

competition" orache 1996: 35). The MP states that

International competitiveness, or comparative advantage.As rooted in a flexible and dynamic smicture of production that produces a changing rnix of goods and services which can win for themselves a place ("niche") in the international market in competition against nvals (Govemment of Jamaica 1996a: 22).

The sû-ategic sectors of the Jamaican economy where advantages are said to be found in this document are tourÏsm, agro-business, telecommunications, and apparel and light

3.1.3 Reduced Role of State

A second salient characteristic of neoliberalism is a reduced role for the state in its capacity and leverage to pursue. manage, and control independent economic polices (Quick

1993; Manhall 1996). Throughout the post World War Two period. the Jamaican state has been a vehicle for addressing the inequities in the social system and for promoting econornic development of a kind that would benefit the mass of the population (Anderson and Witter

1994). It has provided a wide range of institutional, administrative and legal arrangements to promote and regulate economic activity, providing the private sector with the infrastructure and the impetus for development (lewis 1994).

The task of pursuing such objectives in a iiighly globalized capitalist era, however, is becoming more complex and more contradictory than ever before. The economic environment within which the Jarnaican state operates is increasingly transnational so that national policies can no longer remain immune fiom the imposition of global capital (Bina and Yaghrnaian 1991). The new role for the state becomes one of managing the national economy's insertion into the global economy in the hope of secdgsome net benefit (Jessop

1993). The state is thus a key actor in this paradigm, intimately involved in the process of organizing global capital through pursuing national economic policies which respond to the pressures of the worid market and international financial institutions.

Within this process, the Jarnaican state has a role of facilitating various domestic actors for the accumulation of capital. One avenue has been through the negotiation of a

Social Partnership between the government, the private sector, and the trade unions. This partnership is viewed as key to creating a stable social and economic environment for

Jamaica to compete effectively in the global economy.

During 1994, work stoppages increased by 50 per cent7 while man (sic) days lost increased bÿ 86.7 per cent. This level of unrest is particularly dmaging in the newly liberalized economic environment, given its discouraging effect on investment. Sporadic stoppages contribute to delays in delivery dates and deadlines. putting the country at a disadvantage vis-a-vis competitors. In the global cornpetitive environment, this trend cannot continue without severe loss in national wealth (Govemment of Jamaica 1996b: 4).

Furthemore, as one interview participant stated,

(t)he governent recognizes that if there is not social and political stability, then the economic plans will be threatened because investors will not corne and those that are investing here will leave. And foreign investment is key. is central (Wedderburn, interview).

In 1994 two-thirds of al1 work stoppages emanated fiom issues invoiving wages and conditions of employment (PIOJ 1995: 19.1). 51

The desired stability of thïs tripartite consensus is rneant to benefit dl: for the private sector. a fnendlier environment for local and foreign investment; for workers. employment generation and improved living standards; and for the Govemment, a benchmark by which to create and implement sound macroeconomic policies (Govenunent of Jamaica l996b).

Union coverage has shnink considerably over the last 15 years. Currently. union officiais estimate that Iess than 20 per cent of al1 employed workers are currently under a collective bargaining agreement (Handa and King 1996). The vast majority of Jamaica's labour force thus was not initially represented in any forma1 way in this tripartite arrangement. Section 3.2.2 elaborates fuaher on the role of NGOs in this Social Partnership.

Social Policy

The third key indicator of neoliberalism is that of a significant reorientation of social policy away fiom the concept of social development to one of social compensation.

Neoliberalism considers the growth of poverty to be a pathology, not a consequence of the economic system. Hence it isolates poverty fiom the process of capital accumulation and economic development, and reduces the solution to designing specific social policies (Vilas

1996). Under pressures from the extemal managers of the domestic economy, Jarnaican eovernments have systematically dismantled policy instruments which eroding the capacity C of the state to protect essential public services such as education, health and transportation

(Levitt 1991).

Govemment expenditure on social and cornmunity seMces between 1988 and 1993, for example, fell f?om 28 percent to 22 percent as a share of total government expenditure. User fees in the health sector have slowly increased. The state introduced a cost-sharing scheme for public primary and secoiidaty schools which took full effect in September 1994.

The principle of cost-sharing specifies that Government retauis responsibility for the payment of teachers' salm-es and related expenses. while operating expenses are met at the school level from fees collected (PIOJ 1995: 20.1).

Within the context of the NP, social policy

"is pursued so as to ennire participation by al1 social groups, equality of opportunity and access, and equity in sharing the bits of our efforts. This will provide a solid bais for social stability, which is a necessary condition for the success of economic policy (Govemment of Jamaica 1W6a: 2).

Poverty alleviation is a pnority goal of the NIP and is addressed in the context of the policy in a number of ways. First. by "creat(ing) expansion of employment in high productivity sectors as well as to raise productivity all round In the econorny" (Govemment of Jarnaica

1996a: 102). This has significant gendered implications as gender is a major variable in detennining the nature of labour market placement. The "high productivity sectors" are pnmady found in the private sector, the country's largest employer which employs more men than women (PIOJ 1995)'.

Second, poverty alleviation is addressed through measures known as 'social safety nets': which are rnechanisrns implemented in conjunction with structural adjustment measures designed to address either structural or transitional poverty and unemployment, to

' Over the penod 1993-94, public sector employment was downsized by 4.8 per cent overall. In contrast, the private sector grew by 10.1 per cent over the year, rernaining the larges employer of labour. Disaggregation ofemployment by gender indicates that more men than women are employed in the private sector compared with the public sector (PIOJ 1995: 18.3-18.4). reduce the impact of adjustment mesures on certain groups9. or to create or improve both social and physical infrastructure (Vivian 1995: 5). Social safety nets are closely linked to the mechanism of targeting social resources. etin in^ social resources is a basic characteristic of social policy under a neoliberal regime. The MP States that gowth and diversification of production "must be matched with a targeted social policy to provide a social safety net for the poor and disadvantaged..."( Government of Jamaica 1996a: iv).

Targeting is a way to parantee that resources effectively reach those to whom they are directed (Vilas 1996; Vivian 1995).1°

Third? the govemment "seeks to intensie the attack on poverty" (Government of

Jamaica 1996a: 102) through the creation of social infrastructure. narnely a National Poverty

Eradication Program and a Social Investment Fund akin to those in Mexico. Peru and

Bolivia. Both initiatives involve decentralization and increased participation of recipients."

Such a 'participatory' process dirough which social funds and programs are irnpln,rnented is seen as promoting equity and dernocratic development processes, and as strengdiening civil

9 One example of a targeted social safety net in Jamaica is the Food Stamp Programme, created to cushion the negative effects of devaluation and the removal of govemment subsidies fiom basic food items. In December 1994, the Programme targeted the provision of benefits to 320,000 persons (Statistical Institute of Jamaica 1996: 39). The catzgories of "Children Aged Less than Six, and the "Elderly/PoorlDisabled" compnsed 90.3 per cent of the total number of individuals receiving food stamps in 1994.69.3 per cent of food stamps went to individuals in Rural Areas (ibid: 40).

'O A Reynesian social security model, in contrat, is based on the principle of universal free social services. Social policy was seen as an element of investment not as an expense (Vilas 1996).

" The National Poverty Eradication Program, for example, is formed around an integrated approach involving partnership, targeting, and comrnunity-based participation (Government of Jamaica l996a: 103). society. restructuring power relations. and giving previously excluded groups a means to participate (Vivian 1995). Vivian (1995) notes that Social Investment Funds are problematic on a nurnber of accounts, particularly in terms of their male bias, lack of sustainability and autonomy as social fünd schemes are heavily extemal'y fimded andor funding cornes Gom one-time sources of revenue generation. This is reflected in the observation of one interview participant who stated:

This Social Invesûnent Fund is in a way quite scandalous because the World Bank and the other fimders have provided X amount of money. Now that X amount of money is to be spent in X penod of time. It is a loan to the govemment, not a grant...they must take that lump sum they have been given and they must spend that Iurnp sum within four years. Now when you tell people that they have to spend how ever rnany millions of dollars in four years time, what you have is a pilot project. You don't have sornething that is sustainable... so the people who it is designed to help, their children and their grandchildren will have to pay for that and what they wiil have gotten out of it at the end of the day will not be sufficient to take their family out of poverty (Narcisse. interview).

The shifis in discourse with respect to 'development' that have occurred in the past two decades are an important correlate of the processes of global and national restmcturing.

As Jessop (1993: 19) remarks. changes in economic discourse are an important aspect of the restructuring of the national state in this curent historical penod. Discursive shifis, such as the demotion of concern over development and the emphasis now on international cornpetition, are an important mediating link between stnictural changes in the global economy and the transformation of the state. These shifis in discourse provide an interpretive framework within which to make sense of ongoing change and within which are found struggles over appropriate responses to such change. Indeed, there exists in Jamaica, and withui the wider Caribbean, processes of constmcting alternative meanings of development to this neoliberal model. This transfomative discourse challenges the premise that 55

neoiiberalism can ever be compatible with any notion of development. The salient themes

of this transfomative paradigm are explored in the following discussion.

3.2 Contours of a Transformative Paradigm

There are voices opposing the ascendency and tenets of neoliberalism in Jamaica and

throughout the English-speaking Caribbean. This discussion provides an overview of the

central actors involved and the central themes they articulate and advocate. To contexhialize

contemporary meanings of a transfomative paradigm, the chapter fïst provides a bnef

historical overview?tracing the intellectual history of this paradigm.

3.2.1 Brief Historical Qverview ,

Resistance to oppressive conditions, challenges to dominant systems and eIaboration of political ideas concedg social change resonate throughout Jamaica's social7economic and politicai history: resistance to slavery and the plantation system through flight fiom plantations, insubordination. sabotage and insurrection" (Sherlock and Bennett 1998: Dadzie

1990; Campbell 1988; Mathurin 1975); through the maintenance of Afi-ocentric cultural and religious traditions despite the Christian missionary imperative (Lawson 1996); through the systematic elaboration of racial pride and black consciousness by Robert Love and Marcus

" In its turbulent history of slave rebellion?no single decade passed without some major incident of slave unrest. Dadzie (1990) notes that Jarnaica experienced as many slave rebellions as al1 the other British West Indies colonies put together. 56

Garvey." a doctrine later infused with a class dimension by Walter Rodney (Benn 1987): through Rastafhri consciousness. a significant example of a counter-cultural response in

Jamaican society (Benn 1987: Nettleford 1970). The following discussion. however, is concemed prirnady with contemporary actors and themes challenging the increasingly hegemonic discourse of neoliberalism and global capitalism in the region.

The beginnings of the debate on Caribbean radical development thinking may be viewed as a reaction to W. A. Lewis' arguments for Caribbean industrialization. Lewis posited a two-sector mode1 in which surplus labour in the subsistence agriculture sector would find ernployment in the urban modem sector, identified as the engine of economic growth. Key to restructuring of the economy was the establishment of large-scale industry. particularly the manufacturing of textiles and gannents, accomplished through a strategy of industrialization by invitation" (Mehmet 1995). This strategy would be based on labour- intensive manufactured goods geared for export to extemal markets given that the dornestic market was too small to support a strategy of import substitution. This process of industnalization had to be initiated by foreign investors since domestic entrepreneurs lacked both capital and the necessary market connections. These ideas were implemented by several covernments of the region during the 1950s and 1960s (Ramphall 1997). C

By the mid 1960s, visible poverty and growing inequalities put in doubt Lewisr industnalization by invitation strategy. A growing nurnber of radical economists based on

I3 Garveyisrn represented a comprehensive attempt to deal with the problem of economic dispossession, social and political deprivation, and cultural distinction within the black community. It was the f~stclear articulation of a philosophy of black consciousness specifically relevant to the black experiences in the New World (Benn 1987). 57 the UWI carnpuses of Jarnaican and Trinidad, calling themselves the New World Group. raiscd senous questions about the ability of Lewis' mode1 to foster self-sustaining growth and to reduce the levels of unemployment. Their ideas constituted a devastating critique of this mode1 of Caribbean industrïalization and led to the emergence of a specific Caribbean school of political economy devoted to description of the dependent characteristic of Caribbean economies (Gray 1991).

The New World Group came to view "dependence" as the dominant feature of

Caribbean economics and argued that this condition denved from the small size and plantation background of these economies. Best and Levitt (1968) developed the theory of plantation economy arguing that the root causes of dependent underdevelopment in the

English-speaking Caribbean derived from the institutional and structural legacies of the plantation system. Girvan (197 1) investigated the operation of the plantation form of econornic organization in rnined export-enclave economies. Beclcford (1 972) elaborated on the theory by investigating the concrete mechanisms through which plantation agriculture generated what he termed "underdevelopment biases" in Third World economies".

Concemed about the alleged adverse impacts that the operations of subsidiaries of multinational corporations were having on national economic development. the New World

Group proposed a range of rneasures aimed at changing intemal production structures and institutions, including greater state intervention.

14 Apart from these mentioned works, a collection of nineteen articles drawn from New World Quarrerly entitled Readings in the Political Economv of the Caribbean, compiled by Norman Giman and Owen Jefferson (no date) represents broadly the thinking of the New World Group. 58

A second stage of Caribbean radical development thinking was the neo-Marxist approach, best represented by Clive Thomas (1974). Thomas argued that underdevelopment in the Third World was generated by the intemationalization of the capitalist system. The region functioned merely as a provider of raw materials to its colonial metropole. Productive forces therefore no longer responded to the needs of the local people, a condition which Ied to the creation of essentidly dyshctional domestic economies which exist today. Thomas focused explicitly on the role of class and politics. In his view, the small size of the domestic markets in the region had led to the failure of a domestic capitalist class to establish itself and to a situation where dominant social classes within the region continued to benefit fiom the region's underdevelopment. For Thomas, the solution to the region's development problems and eradication of poverty lay in "a comprehensive socialist strategy for transforming the productive forces and liberating the political and socid order" (Thomas 1974: 116-1 17).

Both structuraiist and neo-Mdst thinking contributed greatly to an intellectud understanding of the persidence of widespread poverty in the English-speaking Caribbean.

By focusing on the control and ownership of the means of production in the world economy of comrnodity production and exchange, the above radical development theorists located the ongin of poverty in social relations of production which deterrnine who controls the economic surplus and how the surplus is utilized. As such, this thinking ascribed a central role to economics and economic production. Based on an ethos of 'productivisrn'. povem could be eradicated, or at least ameliorated, by transforming the social relations of production and by increasing economic production in the region (Ramphall 1997). 59

3.2.2 Contemporary Transformative Meanings

The above discussion elaborated upon the intellectual history of the transfomative paradi_gm. The conceptuaiization of a transfomative paradigm for development in Jamaica and the Caribbean has dso an'sen out of the regional econornic crisis of the past three decades. To the degree that the economic deterioration of the 1970s and early 1980s began to make inroads into attained standards of living, so too did it affect the dominant perspective that political parties and govemments were the main avenues for presenting solutions to these problerns (Lewis 1994). The hability of political parties and other groups such as trade unions to provide resources to counter exacerbating trends of poverty, social dislocation and growing inequalities between social classes left the door open for community-based groups such as farmer and peasant organizations, human rights groups, and women's organizations to foster new paradibms of development (Deere et a1 1990; McAfee 199 1). Thus much of the alternative economic thought and praxis being developed in the Caribbean is taking place somewhat independently of traditional politicai organizations (Lewis 1994).

The central actors in this paradigm are development oriented NGOs such as the

Association of Deveiopment Agencies (ADA) in Jarnaica7 the Caribbean Policy

Development Centre (CPDC) in Barbados, the Canbbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) and the Caribbean Network for Integrated Rural Development

(CNIRD), both based in Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean People's Development

Agency (CARIPEDA) based in St. Vincent. These groups have "forrnulated a consistent critique of the mode1 and of structural adjustment to show the ways that it is affecting the country and the people" (VasseII, interview). ..so many people have said so loudly and repeatedly that this approach is flawed and so many people have presented incontrovertible evidence that it is harming the majotity of people and benefiting only a smali number and that is not a sustainable arrangement. So I think the critique of the model has been ver). effective regionally, locally, intemationally (Narcisse, interview).

Currently, NGOs are rnoving away from critiques to processes of articulating

alternatives to the model of structurai adjustment.

We realize that we are at a point now that we have critiqued the thing to death. We now have to address the "so what", "so what is going to be different". And not only so what is going to be different but to assist ùi the process of working out hou. to get there. How concretely it cm happen without the necessary death of any sector. So how can the private sector continue to flowish and function while you still have an equitable society? 1s that possible? That is the big question (Narcisse, interview).

Jmaican NGOs have been taking a long-term, pragmatic and multi-Iayered approach to

promoting alternatives to the curent neoliberal model. They have been working at the

international level to push for reforrn of international fuiancial institutions; at the regional

level by articulating policy positions on macro-economic issues such as debf structurai adjusmient privati~ation~tourïsrn, etc.; at the national level to pressure national govemments to Iive up to their responsibilities to their citizens; and at the community level to encourage alternative ideas and community consciousness (Johnston 1995). The Association of

Development Agencies (ADA), a national level Jamaican NGO, is an umbrella group of member agencies. Its 1994-1998 strategic plan outlines six goals: to increase civic consciousness and problem solving capacities of social organizations at local and national levels; to buiid member NGO capacity in the areas of govemance, programnihg and financial management; to provide long term systematic analysis of global and macro issues and lobby with others for mechanisms for sustainable development; to promote policy advocacy and representational work on certain social, cultural and economic policies; to 61 diversi@ A.DA1s fùnding possibilities: and to support regional and international efforts to build a sustainable development paradigm and apply the learning fiom these efforts in ADA's own work in Jarnaica (Johnston 1995).

The NGO sector in Jamaica has been active in providing support to the social sectors at the comrnunity level as the state retreats from its engagement in meeting basic necessities

(Baker 1993). This has cast development-oriented NGOs into the position of being social partners, although not always recogniled by the govemment as such (Walker 1996). NGOs? for example, were not initially included as part of the Social PartnershÏp consultations. The unions recognized, however,

that they stood much to gain by making ...some kind of collaboration with NGOs whom have made a fair impact in the country on social development prograrns and in a way have more contact with the comrnunity than trade unions and more contact uith that 70 percent that the unions don? represent. So the unions offered a space on their side (Wedderburn, interview).

The hP document reco-gnizes non-g-ovemmental organizations as active participants in the

Social Partnership (Governrnent of Jamaica 1996a: 50).

The actors in this paradigm also include a grassroots constituency of social movements to which NGOs are linked. NGOs, such as ADA, support the articulation of

"popular" development movements based on political and economic self-empowerment

(Lewis 1994). Thus the transformative paradigrn in Jamaica and the Caribbean also contains elements of what is known as 'post-development' thinking and practice. This concept has emerged in the pst decade to give primacy to grassroots social movements, local knowledge and culture, popular power, and intellectual and politicai diversity (Rahnema 1997; Escobar

1995; Watts 1993). The economic concems of these grassroots initiatives "are socially 62 embedded and expressed in cultural ternis which often rest upon local 'subaltem' knowledges

(Watts 1993: 268). The make-up of the transformative paradigm. hence. is heterogenous. from radical econornic thought to NGOs engaging with the state on rnacro-economic issues to local grassroots initiatives as protagonists of their own development.

The following table outlines four salient themes central to a transformative development paradigm in the Caribbean.

Table 2: Themes of a Caribbean Transformative Paradigm

II Self-determination and self-reliance 1 the shaping of Caribbean development strategies inside, rather than outside the region. Participation the broad-based involvement of Caribbean people in the definition and implementation of alternative strategies. equitable distribution of assets, resources, etc. arnong classes and 1l genders. II I (1 Sustainability 1 the groounding of alternative 11 1 development swategies in a sound and II 1 secure environment and in local human II 1 capacity. (Sources: Duncan 1995; Baker 1993; Deere et a1 1990; Ginan 1986).

The theme of self-detemination is premised on the need to reverse the particular historical formulation of development in the region with its resultant pattern of producing what is not consumed iocally and consuming what is not produced locally (Thomas 1993).

Self-reliant strategies are "anchored to the goal of meeting the needs and aspirations of the region's people, and not merely of increasing profit for a smdl rninority in the North"

(Andaiye and Antrobus 1995: 30). They would transform the economy from one that is highly dependent on the variations of national and international capital to one that is increasingly self-reliant and sustainable for Iarger sectors of the marginalized population

(Lewis 1994). Self-reliance. then- prioritizes production of goods usefil to the population as a whole. instead of relying on international trade to impoa consumer goods that are of profit only to a minority. What is being suggested is not a "de-linking" fkom the global economy but rather redirecting national priorities to the production of those goods and services most needed by the populations of the region (Deere et al 1990). Self-determination goes hand in hand with mechanisms of global redistribution.

In the larger picture of United States foreign policy, regiond geopolitics, and national securïty concems, transfomative strategies of self-determination must realisticdly contend with the general trend of politico-ideological containment that permeates the region (Lewis

1994). US.intervention has been a constant factor af3ecting the nature of Carïbbean regional and national development practices. ïhis is echoed passionately by one interview participant:

1dluik what is happening in our hemisphere is the demonstration of the danger of this unipolar world with one dominant power, and we just happen to be in the hemisphere with that one dominant power? who then determines that he is going to police you and decide, for example by the Helms Burton Law, how you operate as a country. That is raw power ...So how do you formulate development altemarives? 1think you need to look at it another way. How do you formulate development alternatives in the context of a hegemonic power in the hemisphere? How do countries Iike ours do it? How? (Wedderburn, interview).

This is a poignant question. One response is to begin at a community level, reducing, alienation stemmhg from lack of control over rnacro economic processes. ADA, for example, is involved in promoting economic alternatives at a Local level. It sponsors research, public education fora and mobilization efforts to increase awareness among

Jamaican consumes of such alternatives to foreign borrowing and debt as domestic savings and investment and cornmunity revolving loan hds(Johnston 1995).

A second related theme of a transfomative paradigm is that of participation. This

would include the democratization of decision-making structures in society f?om the level

of the workplace and community to a participatory political process. right htough to the

implementation of policies and programs.

Participation is a very important part of development, and what I see is that very often things are planned for people. You know, we have a lot of meetings and workshops and so on but very often, those meetings and w-orkshops are where you hear what the policy is and you don't have the opportunity to make your own input into the poIicy (McKenzie, interview).

Participation would entail processes in place in which to leam fiorn the poor about their own

needs, aspirations and knowledge (Andaiye and Antrobus 1995). How this might play out

in reality was offered by one interviewee:

To find a way to talk with and learn £iom a broad cross section of society who are just as articulate and clear because of experiznce about alternative approaches and better way of doing things. In fact they are clearer than most of us. People who work in our factories, who watch management bnng in machinery that they know is inappropriate, nobody stops to ask them. So it is to push for a bottom-up approach to decision making, whether it is decision making at the level of enterprises or businesses or cornrnunities, that has to become part of our political "agenda" as activists (Narcisse, interview).

NGOs focus on engaging grassroots organizations in the formulation of policies and alternative models of economic development, and in the decision making processes that affect their Iives @&er 1993; Lewis 1994). Participation therefore includes the valorization of local knowledge.

The overarching tenet of participation is that of a human-centred approach to development. In the Caribbean, human-centred development habeen articulated as a process of "continuous enhancement of the capabilities and welfare of al1 individuals... and of the society as a whoie", asserting that "al1 people and groups in society should be both beneficiaries and active participants in the (development) process" (Girvan 1986: 13-14). The

NGO submission to the Social Partnership consultation States:

that immediate investments in the PEOPLE? our education, health. access to resources with which to make use of our abundant talents' Our entrepreneurial spirit and intelligence; that such investments are what will revive the engine of economic mo wth and sustainable development (Interim NGO Council 1996: 7). U

IdenBfication with civil society is a strong curent ninning through the theme of participation

(Lewis 1994). As such. ADA prioritizes the involvement of civil society in govemments as key to Jarnaican development; it works to build parish wide associations of community organizations to participate in local governments. NGOs have served to re-conceptualize the issue of power within the region, that of the collective organization representing the interests of the community. They work at changing therefore not ody the political dimension but work at changing attitudes and emphasizing values of cooperation as opposed to competition

(Johnston 1995).

A third significant theme withii the transfomative mode1 is that of equity, that is,

-oender equiq in al1 spheres of society as well as the equitable distribution of and access to resources (Interim NGO Council 1996; Andaiye and Antrobus 1995). "The asyrnmetry of gender relations is detrimental not only to women, but to men and chilchen and therefore to social, cultural, economic and politicaf development in the wider society" (Andaiye and

Antrobus 1995: 21). The negative effect of this asyrnmetry is reflected in the pervasive violence against women (Waniff 1995): women's political disempowerment (Jamaica

Women's Political Caucus 1994), and the invisibility of much of women's work in public accounting systems (Andaiye and Antrobus 1995). These consequences limit women's 66

contributions to the realisation of a vision of Jarnaica and the Caribbean which is humane.

equitable. and sustainable.

Feminist NGOs have advanced the most comprehensive analysis in linking macro-

economic anaiysis to experiences at the micro level of the poorest household (Lewis 1994).

Gender analysis goes beyond statistical indicators of growth and development and seeks to

centre on human and holistic measures of gauging the quality of Caribbean iife. It has made

visible the true value of women's work which contributes to national and regional production.

The theme of gender equity asserts that

women will not be able to make their full contribution to development unless they have control over their fertility, legai justice, equd access to skills and resources, and most importantly, real opportuniries to participate in decision-making process-at al1 levels-on the basis of their experience as women (Andaiye and Antrobus 1995: 27).

A fmal theme is that of sustainability which includes sustainhg ecological and

technoiogical resources. Modem production geared towards profit maximization has

impacted disastrously on the ecology of the region, having led to increasing levels of

pollution, rising rates of deforestation, soi1 erosion and chernical contamination of mile

ecosystems. It has also led to the destruction of a range of technological resources'

represented by local technologies and associated knowledge systerns (RmphaII 1997: 15).

Preserving the stability of the environment, supporting subsistence economies to permit

ecological balance, and promoting the development and use of local technology ail play a

role in creating self-sustaining societies (Rist 1997; Ramphall 1997; Lewis 1994).

3.3 Conclusion

This chapter has traced the tenets of dominant and tramformative paradigms of 67

development in the Caribbean and Jarnaica. Identifjing the key actors. salient themes and

prevalent discourses of these paradigms sheds light on the rnacro context cvithin which

ferninist efforts to address women's subordination and asymmetncal gender relations operate.

Paradigms wax and wane over time. The independence era in Jarnaica was a historicd

conjuncture where an active role for the state in economic fiairs was accepted within the

international development paradigm, which encouraged the move towards redistributive

politics. The opportunity was taken to improve education, expand infrastructure, dispense jobs and to present the state as the agent of rnodernization and developrnent. The PNP

govemment in the early 1970s was one in which state credence was given to principles of the

transfomative paradigm.

Restmctured global capitalism and the ideological ascendancy of neoliberalism have together shaped a new international development paradigm, based on neoliberal strictures that seek to ensure the unfettered circulation of goods and services globally. This paradigm shifi marks a sib&ficant challenge for Iamaican national development as shifis in the ideological sphere influence and shape the backdrop of development planning and allocation of resources. Analysis of the Nalional Indus~riuZPolicy demonstrates the extent to whic h the

Jamaican state embraces neoliberal philosophy through its emphasis on international competitionoreduced role for the state, and advocacy of social policy based on the principle of targeting, not social investment. While the state cmot cornpletely abandon its role as allocator of social goods and deveiopment resources, neoliberal forces displace the capacity and leverage of govemments to manage, augment and control developmentalist agendas. As wiH be demonstrated in subsequent chapters, neoliberalism poses significant constraints to, 68

and operates as a conservatizing influence on? ferninist efforts to engender meanings of

development.

Mongside this dominant paradigm exist articulations of alternatives to a neoliberal view of economy and society. Actors, especially development-oriented NGOs, seek both to dislodge the privileged hegemony of structural adjustment and international cornpetition as viable development processes for the Caribbean, und to formulate alternative social and economic proposals based on principles of self-deterrnination and self-reliance, participation, equity and sustair.ability. While this transformative paradigrn encompasses the whole

English-speaking Caribbean, specific reference was made where possible to how such principles are operationalized in Jamaica-

The transformative paradigrn is not an abstract mode1 but a historical, multi- dimensional process of stniggle. Globalization, however, places enormous constraints on popdar struggles and social change within a country or region. As such, actors are taking a pragmatic and multi-layered approach to advancing visions of transformation, 60m engaging the govemment in its Social Partnership consultations to working directly with local cornniunities- While much of the NGO work is centred on economic issues. the transformative paradigrn is not monolithic in ptiorirVing economics as the Lens for problematizing socid realiv. As will be demonstrated in Chapter Seven. grassroots organizations seek to contribute non-economic meanings of transformative development.

This chapter has provided a fiarnework through which feminist engagements with development in Jamaica will be analyzed in Chapters Six and Seven. The thesis now turns to a theoretical overview of feminism and development. This is an important step in this 69 study as feminist theories have provided cntical insights into the gender biases of development paradigms. Furthemore. the tenets of such theones are present in ferninist strategies to engender the paradigms discussed in this chapter. Chapter Four: Feminist Engagements with Development: Theoretical Contributions

From the interplay of North-South and South-South feminist encounters over the past

three decades has emerged an array of theoretical frameworks explicating the role and

expenences of women in development processes. The approaches, goals and strategies employed by Jamaican feminists in engendering meanings of development have both

ùiformed and been informed by this global body of feminist theorizing of development. This chapter draws out the salient themes in the debate between the two most influentid feminist theories of development in Jamaica, namely Women in Development (WID) and Gender and

Development (GAD).

The first section of the chapter briefly traces the historical background of WID and

GAD in order to contextualize their emergence in the field of international development. The second section provides a surnrnary oveMew of WID theory, focusing on its liberal femuiist roots interpreted within the international arena. How WID theory played itself out in the

Caribbean context as a means of understanding wornen's experiences with development efforts is also elaborated upon. The third section delineates the main tenets of GAD theory which combines a critique of global political economy by Southern feminists with social feminist thought by Northern ferninists. The application of GAD theory to understanding wornen and development processes in Jamaica highlights the critical linkage between women's productive and reproductive work, and the relation between these labour patterns and other aspects of gender inequality and class inequdiq. The theoretical positions of WID and GAD underpin ferninist practice in Jamaica with respect to development. Cntically exarnining them contributes to an understanding of the various forms and strategies of

70 engendering development.

4.1 Theories of Women, Gender and Developmcnt: An Historieal Background

International development as an area of intellectual inquiry can be traced to the post-

World War II era. The birth of the 'development project' in the 1950s was a global phenornenon that swept across political and ideologicd differences (Escobar 1995). As with the United StatesrMarshall Plan for Europe, western and western-trained economic planners were convinced that monetary and technical aid channelled to Third World countries would foster industrialization and economic growth. The benefits accruhg to the modem industrialized sector wodd eventuaily "trickle down" to the benefit of everyone? through improved living conditions, wages, education and health services. Economists and planners argued that this trickle down strategy would ultimately benefit the poor and transform the economies of developing countries.

By the Iate 1960s, concern over the failure of this strategy to reduce the increasing economic disparities between North and South, and dissatisfaction with 'growth-dominated' definitions of development led to a refomulation of development goals to rake greater account ofpoverty and the meeting of basic needs. ivloreover, former colonial nations were calling for a New International Economic Order which would bnng about greater equity in the distribution of the world's resources. Third World liberation struggles cornbined with feminist, civil-rights and black power movements in the North to heighten awareness of continuing global inequities and injustices. It is against this backdrop of ferment and a context of changed prionties within international development agencies that women emerged as an object of concern for policy-makers and planners (Kabeer 1994).

Ester Boserup's landmark study, Women's Rok in Econornic Development (1 970), is often cited as the watershed which opened the doors to (Northem) feminist investigations of women's socio-economic and political status in the Third World. Since this time, the multi- discipiinary nature of the women and development field has generated an array of theoretical perspectives that have guided development researchers, practitioners and advocates. The two key approaches padcularly relevant in the Jamaican context are Women and Development

(WID) and Gender and Development (GAD)." These two theories propose contrasting explanations of women's disadvantaged status and the marginalization of women in development processes. WID espouses a theory of roles, in which sex-role sociaiization is key to women's disadvantage. GAD espouses a theory of power relations, identiGing broad interconnechg relationships through which women are positioned as a subordinate group in the division of resources and responsibilities, power and pnvilege (Kabeer 1994;

Rathgeber 1990). Table 3 succinctly delineates salient dimensions of each theory. These are elaborated upon Merin sections 5.2 and 5.3, with reference to the Caribbean and Jamaican context.

'' Two other theoretical paths, Women and Development (WAD) and Women, Environment and Development (WED), are not included in this chapter as they have not reverberated in Jamaica and the Caribbean to the sarne extent as WID and GAD. There is Iittle, if any, reference in the literature on WAD and WED pertaining to the Caribbean context. 73

Table 3: Comparison of Women in Development (W)& Gender and Development (GAD) Theoretical Frameworks

Dimensions Women in Development Gender and Development Approach Liberal feminist theory; theory Socialist ferninist theory; of roles, theory of power relations. Focus Women, as individuais and as Gender relations; link between an isolated category; women's productive & reproductive productive roles emphasized. spheres; holistic view of women's lives. Problem Women insufficiently Imbalance of power-relations integrated into the processes of includùig gender, class and race. economic modernization; male bias Goals Equal opportunity; to achieve Development fkom a gender more efficient economic perspective; gender-aware development. policy and planning. Solutions Integate women into existing Reverse hierarchy of knowledge development processes; production: reverse alIocational overcoming male bias. priorities in planning process. Strategies Income-generathg projects; Access to and control over legal refonn; access to resources and benefits; education, participation of the state in land and credit; women as prornoting wornen's emancipation: community managers. women's collective power. (Sources: Young 1997; Kabeer 1994; de los Rios 1993: Rathgeber 1990; Sen and Grown 1987).

4.2 Overview of Women in Development Theory

WID subscribes to various assurnptions of modemization theory which depicts development as an evolutionary, unilinear process of change propelling societies fiorn their pre-modern statu through a senes of stages towards the final destination of modemity

(Escobar 1995; Parpart 1993). Modernization theory targets individuals as the catalysts for social change, ernphasizing changes in individual values and attitudes as a critical 74 prerequisite for the transformation of pre-modem institutions and cultures into modem society. It is premised upon an androcentric. libenl definition of individuals. nius 'modem man' is defined as an individual characterized by rational behaviour consisting of innovativeness. dynarnism, competitiveness and nsk-taking, specializing in full-time production for the market. Modeniization theory reflects liberal political ideology of individualisrn, independence and division between public and private realms, a division that understands the realrn of the family as women's sphere and the realm of the public as men's.

Thus early development policy rnakers and planners brought 'modem' woman into development on very sex-specinc terms, as mothers and housewives (Kabeer 1994).

Originally developed and articulated by American feminists in the early 1970s. WID theory emerged as a powerfül critique of development policy f?om a liberal feminist perspective of rnodernization tlieory and practices. Liberal feminism deveioped as a reac tion to the patriarchal bias of liberal philosophy (Eisenstein 198 1). Liberal feminist philosophy maintains that the subordination of women is a deviation fiom the noms of equality and justice for al1 individuals. It contends that sexuai inequality cm largely be corrected if women are integrated into the public sphere as the equals of men (Bandarage 1984). Liberal feminism is based on the ideas of fieedom of choice, individualism and equality of rights and oppormnity. Women are conceptualized as an undifferentiated category making individuai choices in the face of prejudice and constraints. They are disconnected fiom the economic, sexual and racial relations that structure life (Eisenstein 198 1).

Transported into the international arena, liberal feminism postulated that women in the Third World were insufficiently integrated into the processes of econornic modernization, 75 that is. the public sphere. Traditional attitudes and values, limited education. and lack of legai n&ts are viewed as constraints to this integation. Since the benefits of development were generated in the modem sector and the cash economy. the solution to improving women's status lay in integrating women into the Western development mode1 (Kabeer 1994).

Furthemore, if western policy-makers and planners could discard preconceived stereotypes of women and be made aware of the importance of women's contribution to development. women wodd be ensured equal access to the benefits and resources accming to development endeavours (Antrobus 1997; Moser 1993; Jaquette 1990).

Two early innuential te& from the WID Literature illuminate these arguments.

Tinker (1 976) focused on the detrimental effects on women of development projects based on Western ethnocentric views. She suggested that "Western stereotypes of appropnate roles and occupations for women tend to be exported with aid" (Tinker 1976: 39, so that modernization widened the gap between men and women's earning power. For Tinker. one sigrificant consequence of these stereotypes was the invisibility of women's productive roles in the planning process. iMiddIe-class Western bias blinds planners to the important role women play in subsistence economies. Thus Tinker laid the blame for the adverse impact of development on women on misinformed and misa&ded male planners. on prejudice and misinformation.

Rogers (1 980) investigated the discrimination practised within major international development agencies and the biases in their data collection procedures. Her snidy arrived ar a similar conclusion as Tinker: that development policy is discriminatory, based on the imposition of a Westem male mode1 of women's roles ont0 Third World women. For Rogers, 76 women were rational econornic agents whose potential is constrained by a discriminatory and distorted planning process. Instead of perpetuating women's marginal status. planners needed to find ways of improving women's productivity.

Rogers' work represented a significant shift within WID theory. Early WID theory focused on the adverse impact of development on women. Rogers' work reversed the equation, stressing the adverse impact of women's exclusion on development. In other words, it was not so much that wornen needed development, but that development needed women.

Indeed, woments economic contribution as a means of achieving more efficient economic development is the predominant and curent WDapproach fiaming bilateral and multilaterd policies towards women (Moser 1993).

4.2.1 AppIication of WII4 Theory in the Caribbean Context

The 1970s witnessed a reactivation of the women's movernent throughout the

Caribbean region (Nain 1997; Ford-Smith 1997). The consciousness among women about the discrimination they faced in political and economic arenas propelled wornen to organize politically and generated a new body of feminist scholarship. This section tums to an examination of some of this WID scholarship as it has ernerged in the Canbbean.

The araaument that development \vas having an adverse impact on women precipitated an explosion of research documenting women's lives. A major effort of WID scholars across the globe has been to generate and analyze sex-disaggregated data on basic indicators such as employment in agiculture, industry and the informal sector, heaith, education, the law, and participation in politics (Goetz 1994). The Women in the Caribbean Project (WICP? 77

1979-1 982) best exemplifies this type of documentary project in the Caribbean within a WID theoretical framework. Conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social and

Economic Research, University of West Indies. with funding fkom a variety of intemationa1 donor agencies?the WICP was the first comprehensive. in depth study of Afro-Caribbean women in the Caribbean (Barriteau 1995; Massiah 199l)'? Prior to 1975. very little research had been done on the lives of Caribbean women; tbat which had been carried out was conducted in the context of research on the family and kinship patterns (Barriteau 1995).

The five major objectives of the multi-disciplinary study were to identiS gaps in knowledge about women's roles; to devise a theoretical fiarnework which would integrate analysis of women's roles; to establish a regional data base for teaching, research and for relevant policy guidelines for integrating women into development; to identifi appropriate mechanisms for the dissemination of research results; and to produce a cadre of feminist researchers (Massiah 1986). Ultirnately,

the WICP's programme of activities sought to ensure the acceptance by policy- makers, of potentially usefûi knowledge for promoting and saieguarding women's interests and for organising their participation in the socio-economic development of their temtories (Massiah 1986: 164).

The WICP study includes the collection of statistical information on women's position in the labour market; it analyzes the multiplicity of activities that constitute work in w-omen's lives; and it describes women's resourcefulness in developing survivd strategies under adverse econornic conditions. It represents a major effort to characterize women's roles and responsibilities in the workplace and the home. Bound to liberal tradition, it exposes the

16 It is comprised of a two volume collection of fourteen research papers fond in Social and Economic Studies. vols. 2&3, 1986. 78 exclusion of Mo-Caribbean women from post-independence economic and political developments and addresses change within existing structures of power. Its findings conclude that women's exclusion fiom development is a function of insufnciently informed decisions: hence development planners and policy makers will take up women's interests if provided with adequate and relevant information (Barriteau 1993).

Overview of Gender and Developrnent Theory

A second major theoretical track, Gender and Development (GAD), ernerged in the

1980s representing the confluence of diverse ferninist perspectives. GAD emerged in large part as a critique of WID and its liberal feminist assumptions by Third World femuiist activists and academics. WID was cnticized for accepting an agenda which lacks structural analysis of the nature of die developrnent modzl into which women were being integrated

(Rathgeber 1990; Beneria and Sen 198 1). Dissatisfied with the predominant WiD focus on equity and eEciency, ferninist writings and experiences in grassroots organizations of Third

World women pointed to the disadvantaged position of women in the world economy, and to the destructive legacy of colonialisml racism and capitdism.

The much-acclaimed monograph Development, Crises and Alternative Visions (Sen and Grown 1987) represents an important contribution Eorn a Southem perspective to the evolution of GAD theory. Sen and G-rown examine the development mode1 assumed by the major agencies and argue that the straiegies for overall economic growth and increased agricdtural and industrial productivity have proved inimicai to women. A set of intedinked crises in the areas of food and fuel, financial and monetary disarray, environmental 79 de_gradation, and demographic pressure has worsened the situation for poor people. Sen and

Grown (1987: 9-10) argue that development programs and strategies should begin fiom the vantage point of poor women because

it is the experiences lived by poor women throughout the Third World in their struggles to ensure the basic survival of their families and themselves that provide the clearest lem for an understanding of development processes. niey examine the ways in which women's experiences with economic growth, commercidization and market expansion are detemiined by both gender and class, which liberal integrationist approaches fail to account for. Sen and Grown (1987: 18) privilege women's contributions as workers and as managers of households to tackle the crises of

The focus of Southem feminist academics on the global politicai economy and on the interlocking of gender and class resonated with and influenced femini~scholars in the North working within a socialist ferninist framework. Socialist feminist theory explains women's oppression as arising kom two systems: a system of male domination, patriarchy, producing the specific gender-oppression of women, and a system of class domination. capitalism. producing class oppression (Barriteau 1995; Barrett 1980). Women's oppression is not solely located in the class relations of capitaiism but is expanded to other sites such as the household and women's reproductive labour. Juliet Mitchel (197 1: 296), for example, pos its that women's subordinate status arises fiom their position in the four social structures of production. reproduction, sexuality and the reproduction of children. She rejects the idea that women's condition results solely fiom the economy; instead women's oppression occws in these four stnictures. 80

Similarly, Zillah Eisenstein (1979) delineates a system of power deriving fiom what she calls 'capitalist patnarchy', a term refe~ngto the dialectical relationship between capitalist class structure and hierarchical semal structurïng. Eisenstein (1979: 6) criticizes radical feminists and some socialist women for viewing women's oppression as dichotomous:

One either sees the social relations of production or the social relations of reproduction. dornestic or wage labo- the private or public realms. the family or the economy, ideology or materid conditions. the sexual division of labor or capitalist class relations as oppressive. Even though most women are irnplicated on both sides of these dichotomies- wornan is dealt with as though she were not. Such a conceptual picture of woman hampen the understanding of the comptexiv of her oppression.

Eisenstein attempts to replace this dichotomous Wngwith a didectical approach. She provides a comprehensive account of women's exploitation and oppression. Power and oppression derive "fbm sex' race. and class" and are manifested "through both the material and ideological dimensions of patriarchy. racism and capitalisrn" (Eisenstein 1979: 23).

Iris Young (1 98 1) advances the argument of gender relations within the structures of capitalist patrïarchy as the site of women's oppression. In her essay. she critiques the core

Marxist concept of class as gender blind, providing no place for analysis of gender differentiation and gender hierarchy. She proposes instead to elevate the category of 'division of labour' "to a position as fundamental as, if not more fundamental than. that of class"

(Young 1981 : 50). Young contends that this category provides femuiists with a tool to analyze social relations of labour activity dong the axis of gender. A gender division of labour analysis of capitalism enables a view of gender relations as fundamental to the structure of relations of production, not merely a central aspect.

Feminist theorists at the Institute for Developrnent Studies, Sussex, were instrumental in advancing socialist feminist thought in the field of international development. Dissatisfied 81 with the promotion of 'women' as the key category of analysis in WID theos. the

Subordination of Women group (SOW, 1979) at IDS argued that the consequent treatment in liberal theory of men and women in isolation fiom each other worked to render invisible men's roles in the continuing subordination of women in the development process. The SOW group worked to theorize a deeper understandkg of the ways in which asymmetncal gender relations may have contributed to the extent and forms of exclusion that women faced in the development process (Kabeer 1994). Kate Young and Naila Kabeer have identified some of the key aspects of a GAD theoretical fiamework. These are now discussed.

Kate Young (1997) maintains that GAD shifts attention away fiom looking at women and men as isolated categories, to looking at the social relationships through which they are mutudly constituted as unequal social categories. The GAD mode1 starts Eom a holistic perspective. looking at "the totaiity of social organization, economic and political life in order to understand the shaping of particular aspects of society" (Young 1997: 52). The outcome is an analytical framework that emphasizes and comects gender relations in both the labour force and the reproductive sphere. In this sense, "the structure of the working day in the sphere of production is only intelligible if the existence of the domestic sphere is taken as a given" (Young 1997: 52). In this sense, a key analyticai concept of GAD theory is that of re/production. Re/production refers to the cornbined activities of goods-production (that is, the production and se~cingof consumer and producer goods) and human-reproduction

(both biological and social).

Gender-aware policy and planning involves asking: who benefits, who loses, what trade-offs have been made, and what is the resultant balance of rights and obligations. power 82 and pri~4egebeîween men and women' and between given social groups. GAD is much less optimistic than WID about the role of the market as distributor of benefits. Instead. it places greater emphasis on the participation of the state in promoting women's ernancipation. It underlines the duty of the state to provide social capital, that is. expenditure on hedh md education, so as to create the conditions for future econornic growth. While WID emphasizes the need for women to be organized into collective groupings to increase their bargainhg power in the economic system, GAD also stresses the need for women to organize themselves for a more effective political voice.

Nda Kabeer (1994) also delineates a GAD theoretical rnodel, which she calls

'capital accumulation and the social relations of gender'. A social-relations approach is concemed with exploring how the relations of class and gender mediate social realities? translating broader processes of change into concrete gains and losses for different groups of women and men (Kabeer 1994: 62). Gender operates as a pervasive allocational principle, linking production and reproduction, domestic with public domains, and the macro-econorny with the micro-level institutions within which the development processes are played out.

Thus a focus on gender relations extends the Manüst concept of social relations beyond the production of objects and comrnodities to the production and care of human life and existence.

For Kabeer, the GAD mode1 envisages a "project of reversals" in knowledge production and allocational priorities. The 'ways of knowing' that have dorninated the production of knowledge in development studies have legitimated particular viewpoints and methods at the expense of others. Development hma gender perspective, in theory and in 83 practice. "offers the viewpoint f?om below? a viewpoint that can help realign development paradigms more closely to the 'real order of things"' (Kabeer 1994: 8 1). Such a perspective would validate indigenous forms of knowledge and the perceptions and priorities of the poor.'7 A reversal of allocational priorities in the planning process entails measuring development by the extent to which human well-being is assured rather than soleiy by the volume of marketed goods and services. This reversal would recognize activities which contribute to the heaith and well-being as productive regardless of where they are carried out.

Like Young, Kabeer maintains that "wornen's collective strength and creativity remains the main hope of a transfomative politics" (Kabeer 1994: 92). The patchwork of informal gassroots associations and nation wide movements which seek to irnprove women's condition and status represent a diverse and rich conduit for changing women's Iives well beyond what is envisaged by officia1 agencies of development.

43.1 Application of GAD Theory in Jamaica

A Gender and Development frameviork has been employed by various feminist scholars to challenge the gender neutrality implicit in macro-economic policies (such as structural adjustment policies) in Jamaica. Specifically, this empirical literature highlights the critical linkage between women's productive and reproductive work, and the relation between these labour patterns and other aspects of gender inequality and class inequality.

Bolles (1986) provides insights into how Jarnaican female-headed households "cope

" In this vein, Marime Marchand (1995) argues that the use of testimonies provides one venue for marginalized women to irnpart their views, practices and expertise and thereby participate in the production of knowledge about GAD. 84 with dependence in an insecure and inadequate wage economy based on international monopoly capital" (Bolles 1986: 65). This empirical study links household-based activities to a larger economic structure shaped by extemal forces such as the IMF and Caribbean

Basin Initiative. Unequal class relations alongside a lower status of women are reproduced and maintained by the type of work women do and the level of dependency they face as economic supporters for their households.

Similarly, Safa and Antrobus (1992) document the impact of structural adjustment on Jamaican women in terms of wages and employment, the cost of living, and reductions in public expenditure. They argue that Jamaica's economic crisis reproduces unequal gender relations as women are a more vulnerable se-meent of the labour force, e&g less than men and experiencing higher ievels of unemployment. Reductions in public expenditures in areas such as health and education coupled with the elimination or reduction of subsidies on food, transportation and utilities Merexacerbate unequal gender relations. These elements of structural adjustment policies shift costs to the household. Since it is women who undertake most of the work in the household this shifi of costs is equivalent to assuming that there is an unlimited supply of unpaid female labour able to compensate for any adverse changes resulting from macro-econornic policy. Existing asymmetrical class relations are maintained because of the increase cost of living.

By emphasizing the interdependence between productive and reproductive economies, Safa and Antrobus highlight the ways in which macro-policy often takes the reproductive economy for granted, assuming that it can accommodate itself to whatever changes macro-policy introduces. They focus on the asyrnmetrical gender and class relations 85 that are reproduced and maintained in a pattern of dependent development and increasing inte_ption into a global econorny. via structural adjustment. Safa and Antrobus conclude that while women have orgmized themselves collectively and drawn upon traditional networks of support? the state and international agencies take implicit advantage of this through economic policies. For development prionties to be reversed and for the Caribbean as a whole to engage in any sort of structural change, the authors contend that women's demands must be recognized and development must begin fiom a gender perspective.

Puiother angle of application of a GAD fiamework to investigate development processes in Jamaica is the literature focusing on an analysis of conditions affecting women as waged workers in multi-national corporations. Specifically, it urges consideration of how the global division of labour functions to confine most women to a narrow range of low- paying, gender-typed positions in their economies. Dunn (1 995, 199 1) examines the phenornenon of Free Trade Zones in Jamaica and the predominance of cheap female unorganized Iabour as key to them. In both texts, she traces working conditions. wages, labour codes as well as organizing strategies by women to ameiiorate their situation.

Similady, Pearson (1993) highlights issues pertaining to women engaged in data- processing work. GAD explanations of women's predominance in export-rnanufacturing rests on gender relations which construct women as 'cheap' labour by requiring of thern skills, speed and accuracy over a variety of labour processes that cornand no prerniums within the labour market because employers offer no formai training. Thus the value of their labour is pre-determined. With respect to workers in the data entry sector, Pearson concludes that sirnilar processes are at work that constmct women as a preferred low-lvage labour force. 86

4.4 Conclusion

Feminist interest in women and development processes has been motivated by

evidence of their declining status worldwide. Feminist research has been concemed to

illuminate structures of exclusion embedded in standard development practices which serve

to marginalize women's interests and relegate them to the periphely of planned intervention

(Goetz 199 1). Theories explicating the locus of wornen's subordination in development

processes vary. This chapter has explored two principal theones, namely Women in

Development (WiD) and Gender and Development (GAD). WID seeks reform to women's

discrimination and disadvantaged status wi thin the prevailing mainstrearn developrnent

paradi-m. GAD is situated within an alternative paradigm which seeks to transform curent

social, political, economic and gender relationships. As such, WID and GAD diverge

significantly in terms of approach, focus, goals, solutions and strategies.

Essentially, WID and GAD are two feminist theories of development which

conceptualize the dynarnics of power differently. The WlD focus on wornen as individuds

and advocacy to conter distortions of sex-role stereotvpes leads to a failure to consider the

question of male power, economic, political and inter-personal. GAD espouses a theory of

power relations; it focuses on the broader interconnecting relationships through which

women are positioned as a subordinate group - individually and institutionally - in the division of resources and responsibilities, power and privilepe.

As elsewhere around the world, WID and GAD are employed by feminists in Jamaica

as tools for constructing andysis around women's experiences with various develo~ment strategies. This is not an unproblematic issue, on two accounts. Both WID and GAD have 87 been criticized for their tendency to represent Third World women as the impoverished. vulnerable "other" (Parpart 1995). Second. as with the bulk of development literature. WD theory is completely silent on the issue of race as a social relation of power. GAD acknowledges race as a properfy of power relations but it is lost in discussion of gender and class. Yet? the aspect of representation and the presence of race are key issues inherent in strategies to engender development paradigms in Jamaica. Alîhough the theoretical frameworks of WID and GAD exert a powemil influence over feminist knowledge of development. the practices and goals ernanating fiom hem must be responsive to the historical and specific conditions which shape women's encounters with each other.

The following chapter scrutinizes Jamaica's heterogeneous economic environment through the lens of women's re/productive activities. Their specific location and position within multiple economic circuits result in a set of complex inter-relations among women. conûïbuting to the shape feminist of mobilization in both paradigms. Chapter Five: A Web of Comptesity: Social Relations Among Wornen

Chapter Five is concerned with illuminating the ways in which women are differentiated fiom each other on the basis of race and class. This taslc is important to this study because these two social relations are a persevering characteristic of feminist activism in Jamaica. The chapter begins with a brief discussion of the correlation between class and race in Jarnaica. It then examines the heterogeneity of the Jamaican economy, permitting investigation into the nature of women's economic activities. Cecilia Green (1995) has characterized the econornies of the English-speaking Caribbean as consisting of three conver-&g yet relatively distinct economic circuits: the household-domestic; the domestic- national; and the &ansnational enclave. This fiamework is employed here with reference to

Jamaica to more fully situate women as econornic actors. I do not wish to reduce women's lives to a question of economics but rather establish that women's location and status in the three circuits create a complex set of inter-relationships between women. The purpose of this chapter is to understand both race as a key social relationship among women as well as the various modes of economic re/production that women participate in, as these bear upon the character of feminist participation to engender development paradigms.

5.1 Correiations of Race and Class

Jamaican society is characterized by numerous contexts that structure the daily life of its people. One of the most apparent is the close correlation between race and class. Stuart

Hall (1977: 154) rem& that the patterns of race/colour stratification, cultural stratification and class-occupational stratification overlap; this is the absolutely distinctive feature of 89

Caribbean socies-. Whiie race and class closely intersect in Jamaica each needs to be

understood as its own organizing pnnciple of social relations. Racial dynarnics are a

determinant of class relationships and identities. not mere consequences of these

relationships (Omi and Winant 1986). Sirnilarly, class relations as a feature of contemporary

societies are practicd activities accomplished by people in everyday life (Ng 1988).

While race and class are separate social processes, I want to remark here on the

common tendency of Jamaican femuùsts to subsume racial differences among women under those of class. For example,

1 would Say we have a colour-class division in this society. But in fact you can understand differences between women largely by class and education (McKenzie. inte~ew).

As well,

Race sometimes comes in but ...it boiis down to a class thing because a woman who is light skinned and haif white. she coming fiom a plantocracy, went to certain schools. It's really a class thing because even some women who are fiom the Iower class when they rise up they treat you down there bad (Molashade, interview).

Collapshg of race into class is in part reflective of the larger sociai context of Jarnaica where

"colour differences aren't articdated, aren't verbalized a lot" (Vassell, interview). The raceklass correiation makes for a complex set of interactions between women. This is further discussed in the following section on womenfs position in Jarnaka's various economic circuits.

5.2 Household-Domestic Circuit

The primary purpose of activities in this circuit is to directly reproduce and sustain human beings and labour power. Activities include reproductive labour (biologicai, 90

childreaing. physicd and emotional nurturance) and production for subsistence purposes.

These activities are also closely associated with petty comrnodity production or circulation.

for exarnple, domestic food crops produced for the most part in the peasant household sector.

Reproductive labour may be carcied out by women or men even though it tends

ovenvhelmingly to be socidy ascribed as "women's work". Unpaid and hence undervalued

reproductive-activities of the household dornestic circuit "feeds" invisible value into the dornestic and transnational economies. Thus the hyphened term " household-domestic"

conveys the contribution of this circuit to a wider "domestic economy".

This economic circuit is differentiated dong lines of gender where an average of 44 per cent of households are headed by women (S tatistical Institute of Jamaica 1996: 3). There is a positive correlation between this and urbanism, where 50.7 per cent of female-headed households are located in the Kingston Metropolitan Area compared to 38.7 per cent in rural areas. There is a Werpositive correlation between household head and poverty as fernale- headed househclds constitute 55 per cent of al1 households in the poorest quintile foilowed by 48.4 per cent in the second poorest quintile (Statistical Institute of Jarnaica 1996: 5).

Female-headed households have lower consumption levek than male-headed households.

The mean per capita consurnption of a household with a male head was JAS5316 in 1994 compared with JA$29'436 for a household with a female head (Statistical Institute of

Jamaica 1996: 13)-

The household-domestic economic circuit is dso differentiated on the basis of class and race. Peasant and working class household circuits rely more on informa1 networks than middle and upper class households for their reproduction. The latter rely primarily on formal 91

sector incomes and revenues and purchase of formal sector goods and services. and only

secondarily on informal sector exchanges. Furthemore. middle and upper class families

benefit fiom and exploit informal economic circuits, on the bais of class and gender

divisions of labour, for example, through domestic service. The household domestic circuits

of the working classes "are the prime repositones and reservoirs of blacWafrocentric material

and symbolic concentrations" within the wider culture. Upper class households tend to be the

site of European/North Arnerican cultural concentrations (Green 1995).

Domestic-National Circuit

The domestic-national circuit is the site of the particular articulation of production, dismbution and consumption on whose basis a sense of national community is reproduced. and combines both formal and informal spheres. The hyphenation of "domestictt and

"national" captures the articulation between activïties which are more internally oriented and tend to reproduce domestic autonomy and those which are officially "national" in stature and tend to reproduce national dependency within the international economy. In some ways this circuit has been formed by the intersection and crisscrossing of disparate circuits, local and transnational (Green 1995: 87).

To understand women's multiple positions in this particular circuit it is beneficial to first explore the incorporation of Jamaica into the global economy. This process began in the sixteenth century with the colonization of Jamaica by the Spanish and British, the genocide of its indigenou peoples, and the establishment of plantation agriculture as the dominant economic activity. The dominance of large-scale sugar production required a steady supply 92 of labour which led to the forced importation of labour from West Africa (Sherlock and

Bennett 1998).

The overwhelming occupational and life experience of slave women was that of field labour. The proportion of the male slave workforce tied to field work was srnaller as they had a monopoly on the most skilled and highest-status slave occupations - as technicians in the factorv, plantation artisans or craftsmen (Green 1994). In addition, women were involved in dornestic labour and petty trading. Slave women fiequently farmed subsistence plots in addition to their required plantation work and sold the goods they produced at Sunday markets. By the latter part of the eighteenth century, the intemal marketing system was a weU-entrenched part of the Jamaican economy, dominated by rural slave provision producers and urban slave hucksters who were predominantly female (Simmonds 1987).

With emancipation in 1838, ex-slaves established independent f&g communities primarily through buying land. squatting on abandoned plantations and Crown lands or via missionary organizations such as the Baptist Church which sold or Ieased small lots to establish church communities (Besson 1992). Favoured jobs for women into the mid- twentieth century tended to be forms of self-employment such as higglers, cultivators and seamstresses. When these codd not be had, women sought out domestic service, task work as casual labour on estates or, toward the end of the nineteenth century, employment in the small light-industrial sector making straw goods or cigarettes (Green 1994; Lobdell 1988).

Census data indicates that during the period 1881-1921 the number of working age women increaçed at a greater rate than did the number of working age men (59 per cent and

40 per cent, respectively) reflecting the migrations of men to work on sugar and banana 93 estates in Cuba and Central Amenca. Afier 1921, levels of female employment declined drastically. According to the 1943 census. between 1 92 1 and 1943 the entire female labour force declined from 59.6 per cent to 34 per cent (Green 1994). While the causes for the decline originate in the post-World War 1economic cisis of the 1920s and 1930s. a period that included pressures on the labour market to accommodate retuniing male migrants and war veterans, there is also an ideological aspect. The 1943 and 1946 census tigures elïminated the categories of female provision famiers, unpaid family workers and inforrnally subcontracted labourers, redefinng thern as housewives and dependents. Furthermore, the

1943 census redefined fms according to their integration ïnto the export (cash) crop economy. Therefore not only were women statistically removed fkom official figures but their main fming base - land use for subsistence and local food production - also disappeared. French (1 98 8) argues that the revolutionary potential of male unemployment made it expedient to promote a male breadwimer/female homemaker ideology which would justi- the ejection of women fiom the wage market and thereby ease unemployment.

Transitions in the global economy and in the international division of labour began to expand women's occupational choices in the late twentieth century. In the post-World War

II period, a strategy of "industrïalization by invitation" was undertaken by English-speaking

Caribbean countrïes including lamaica. Programmes of incentives and protection to encourage foreign investment in the main pillars of the economy (mining, tourism- manufacniring) were irnplemented with the aim to diversi& the economy, eam foreign exchange, and provide employment for a growing labour force (Anderson and Witter 1994). 94

Social class differentiations occurred in the middle and Iower classes as a result of this new economic order. A sibpificant professional black middle class emerged. facilitated in part by the rapid gr0wt.h of the public sector and expanded educational oppominities. The educated middle-class (black and coloured) profited from the growing nurnbers of professionai managerid positions in the private and public sectors, and in professions such as Iaw, medicine, and engineering. Middle-class women too k advantage of emerging cierical, commercid and social service employment opportunities that opened up. fxst on a racially selective basis, but increasingly on considerations of educational qualincations (Green 1994).

Low and unskilled workers had access to jobs in factories, hotels, and transportation.

Working-class women were drawn into industrial production as it came to involve labour- intensive, light manufacturing of textiles and garments. The number of women in manufacturing increased from 22 percent of the total in the early 1930s to nearly 35 per cent in 1973 (Green 1994).

This economic mode1 sustained two decades of growth' averaging 6 per cent GDP per annum between the 1950s and 1973 (Levitt 1991). It did not significantly alleviate unemployment which stood at 23.2 per cent in 1972. Moreover, the nature of economic developrnent aggravated the already extremely unequal distribution of income thereby exacerbating a discordant class system intricately linked with race. It was almost exclusively blacks who were poor, unemployed and suf5ered the most fiom the negative effects of growth

(Stephens and Stephens 1986).

The election of a democratic socialist PNP governent in 1972 sought to increase the level of state involvernent in the economy to better control economic development. 95

Beyond this' the PNP govemment implemented a nurnber of reformist and redistributive policies designed to sttulate forrns of economic developrnent capable of producing widespread prosperity and political stability. Mesures were introduced to assist and encourage small businesses, fiee education was extended to secondary and University levels. work opportunities cxpanded through job-creation prograrns and increases in red wages were achieved (Hyett 1993; Levitt 1991; Stephens and Stephens 1986)-

Since 1973 the Jamaican economy has declined alrnost continuously until the end of the 1980s. The oil crisis in 1974 dealt a major blow to industriai strategy by reducing the country's capacity to purchase imported goods through the second half of the decade. To expand its own revenue base in response to the oil crisis, the PNP imposed a levy on the bauxite industry. Growth rates in al1 key sectors of the economy were affected by the massive flight of capital of foreign private capital which followed such an imposition. Bauxite exports plummeted. sugar output dropped and tourism receipts fell sharply. Annual growth rates of between -15 and -35 per cent were not uncommon during the second half of the decade.

Unemployrnent began to rise and real incomes feil (Hyett 1993: 133). Extemal pressure' chiefly fiom the US govemment, the IMF and multinatiod capital, escalated to restructure the economy in ways acceptable to these transnational interests. Jamaica has been subject to

IMF and World Bank structural adjustment programs since 1977, comprised of a series of policy irnplementations including currency devaluations, the removd of some price controls, deregulation of irnport controls, public sector retrenchment, reduction and removal of subsidies. ùghter monetary and fiscal policy, deregulation of the financial sector, and privatization of publicly-owned enterprises (Levitt 199 1). 96

The export-led development strategy of the JLP government throughout the 1980s. which was at the heart of structural adjustment. and a current PNP government comrnitted to neoliberal fiee market philosophy have resulted in substantial structural change in this economic circuit. The service sector now exceeds the goods-producing sector as percentage contribution to GDP, with goods contributing 44.6 per cent and services 72.4 per cent (PIOJ

1995: 1.5). Furthemore, the goods-producing sector has dso witnessed a decline in employment by 6.2 per cent between 1990 and 1994, indicating a shifi of labour resources to the services-producing sectors (PIOJ 1995: 18.4).

The productive base of the domestic-national economy today comprises the foilowing major components: the production of primary products for export such as bananas, sugar and bauxite; small-scale production of food crops and crafts for subsistence and for the domestic market; reIated small scale marketing; import/wholesale/retail trade: commercial. govement, financial, professional and skilled-trades services; constniction, real estate, transportation; and limited domestic manufacturing often through joint venture arrangements

(Green 1995). The fmancial, insurance, reai estate sectors were the fastest grouing sector of

Jamaica's economy in 1994 (PIOJ 1995: 18.5).

The labour force participation rate in 1994 was 53 per cent for men and 47 per cent for wornen. The fo1Iowing table highlights the employed labour force by industry group and gender for 1994. Table 4 : Employed Labour Force by Industry Group and Gender, 1994

INDUSTRY MALE % FEMALE % GROUP

IlConstruction Wholesale & Retail, Restaurants & Hotels II Transpo- Storage & 1

Financing, Business

Comrnunity, Social

(Adapted from Vassell, Hamilton and Narcisse 1996).

Men are predominantly employed in industries such as agriculture, fore-, mining. utilities. transport and construction. Women are predominantly situated in wholesaie and retail. community and social services, business services, and the public sector. As noted in Chapter

Three, the private sector was the largest employer of labour in 1994, while public sector employment was downsized by 4.8 per cent. This has a direct impact on women as more wornen are ernployed here than are men (PIOJ 1995: 18.3).

Green (1995) discems distinct patterns in wornen's position with regard to forma1 labour force participation in this circuit which are mediated by class. Middle-class occupations for women are concentrated in a narrow range of white collar administrative and 98 service positions and ses-typed and/or lower-ranked professional and entrepreneurid livelihoods. Working class women find themselves disproportionately engaged in sex-typed unskilled production, service and clerical jobs and various unpaid farnily labour and informat sector activities.

With economic recession gripping the national economy and structural adjustment programs plachg greater pressures on the ability to secure basic provisions, the urban informal sector ballooned drarnatically in the 1980s. It is estimated that employment in the informal sector increased fiom 17 per cent of the labour force in 1980 to 28 per cent of the

Iabour force in 1989 (Handa and King 1996). The informal sector caters to many of the requirements of the domestic market, becoming a major source of many goods and services including staple foodstuffs. The principal focus of informal sector activity in the Kingston

Metropolitan Area tends to be commodity circulation of household consumer goods and marketing of domestic services (Harrison 199 1).

Working-class women are disproportionately involved in ùiis sphere of the domestic- national circuit as strategies for survival outside of the formai market. The informal sector meets reproductive needs with cheap goods and services, provided through intensive labour efforts. often as an extension of domestic tasks. Domestic service, for esample, remains a significant area of employment for women in this sphere as middle class women who enter formai-sector jobs employ domestics for housework and childcare.

Higglering is another important source of income for women in the informal sphere, harking back to the intemal marketing system of the days of slavery. Higglering is engaged in mainly by poor women, either full-time or part-time as a complement to low-paying jobs 99

(French 1994). With the econornic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s- some women became informal commercial importers (ICIs) of manufactured goods. Unlike their cornterparts in produce vending, ICIs are involved in highly profitable enterprises. ïliey responded to the shortage of consumer goods in the late 1970s by eamîng their own foreign exchange through fruit and vegetable exports and in tuni translating this into imports of scarce rnanufactured eoods. The main destinations for shopping by ICIs are Panama, Haiti, Cayrnan Islands and Y the United States. Informai commercial importers ~ansformedthe intemal marlceting function of the traditional higgler into complex activities crossing international boundaries.

Among the different categories of higglers, ICIs have the largest scale of activity, re- investrnent and income, which at the upper levels, compares favourably with some professional and white collar jobs (Anderson and Witter 1994).

Tourism represents a third important source of incorne for women. Such work is closely confined to the domestic sphere; it utilizes skills a woman will already have acquired and so she is not hindered by any Iack of forma1 training. McKay's study (1 993) of tourism in Negri1 reveals that womenfs participation and earnings in the tourist industry are not an unproblematic means of social mobility. For example, in the market place womenfs trade based on hcimd clothing is ofien less lucrative than men's activities selling more expensive items such as jewelry and wood-carvings. Landladies are dependent on their eiaended families for the land on which to build their guest rooms and have less opportunity to earn money of their ownSfor so much of what they earn from their guests gets swallowed up in household expenses (McKay 1993: 284).

There is a highly uneven division of labour between the formal and informal sectors 100 reflecting in part a separation between the domestic-national economy and the tnnsnational- enclave circuit; a division within the household-domestic circuits by class as working class households are found and reproduced within the informal sector in greater proportions than middle class; and a division of labour between the two sectors also reflects a division within the household-domestic circuit by gender as more women participate in the informal sector than do men.

Transnational-Enclave Circuit

This particular economic circuit is hosted by the domestic-national economy and as such, contributes to the transnationdization of the domestic-national circuit. Transnational- enclave niches are found in foreign-owned andor controlled minerai expoa sectors? foreign- basedhotel-chain/"packagedVtourisrn, and offshore banking and rnanufacturing concems

(Green 1995). One relatively recent manifestation of the transnational-enclave economy in

Jamaica is the Free Trade Zone, which is the focus of discussion here,

Free Trade Zones (FTZs) are special expoa production enclaves that facilitate the operation of transnational companies in a developing country. Host govemments introduce incentive legislation to enhance their country's attractiveness as an investment haven for foreign companies. The most common incentives offered include exemption fkom customs and other duties, unrestricted repatriation of profits, good communications systems, subsidized infrastructure, and cheap non-unionised fernale labour @unn 199 1). Women tend to be concentrated in rnanufacturing production in FTZs because capital has defined such production as women's work. As Elson and Pearson (198 2: 94) note, (w)omen do not do unskilled jobs because they are the bearers of inferior labour: rather, the jobs they do are unskilled because women enter them already determined as inferior bearers of labour.

The development of FTZs in Jamaica cm be divided into two distinct periods. The fist phase began with the establishment of the Kingston Free Zone in 1976. and the second in the 1982/83 period as part of the govemment's strategy to pursue export-oriented industridization. There are 53 companies currently operating within the Kingston. Garmex and Montego Bay Free Zones, employing 16.444 people in 1994 (PIOJ 1995: 10.5). The

kornent uidustry accounts for most export processing, comprising two-thirds of the hsand nearly 90 per cent of the employment, the majority of whorn are young women (Nurse 1995).

The major source of investrnent in terms of volume and value comes fiom the United States.

The second largest source of investment comes fiom Hong Kong, followed by Canada India and Nonvay (Du199 1). The export-manufacturing sector has also seen the establishment of data-entry, food products, and pharmaceuticai products as areas of investment (Joekes

1993; Nurse 1995; Dunn 199 1).18

With the drarnatic decline in living standards as a consequence of structural adjusmient policies. women's employment in fiee trade zones is also a survival strategy for dealmg with the econornic cnsis (French 1994; Safa and Antrobus 1992). Such employment. however, has not significantly altered the socioeconomic stanis of Jamaican women precisely because of the low wages and poor working conditions of this employment (French 1994:

Dunn 199 1). Research korn FTZs in Jamaica (French 1994; Dunn 199 1) indicate that the

'' The Kingston and the Garmex Free Zones main activity is apparel manufacturing. The Montego Free Zone has some apparel manufacninng and also facilitates information processing (Nurse 1995: 196). 102

major health problems women encounter include back pains. respiratory problems. kibey

and bladder infections. sinus problems and allergies. Wages are a problematic issue as the

basic minimum wage for Jarnaica \vas .34 US cents per hou in 1993 (Willmore 1994).

Workers also cornplain of low oveaime rates and disrnissals for rehsing to work over-time

at short notice. Moreover, employment in this enclave circuit is unstable as it fluctuates in

relation to the state of the world economy, particularly the US economy. Efforts to establish

unions within the Kingston Free Zone have been fumly resisted by companies who view

unions as a major obstacle to investment (Safa and Antrobus 2992).

The transnational enclave and one of its predominanî features, the Free Trade Zone, draws Jarnaica into the low end of a highly skewed international division of labour. There is a critical element of gender segmentation within this. This segmentation is typified by a smali, relatively well-paid, highly unionized, largely male workforce in the bauxite and certain import-substitution industries on the one hand, and the low-wage, non-unionized,

"fiee zone" garment and electronics female workers on the other. This dualistic pattern continues to be exacerbated by the uicreasing incorporation of Jarnaica and the Caribbean region into the United States-dorninated hemispheric re-confi~gurationof "the Amencas"

(Marshall 2996; Green 1995).

5.5 Conclusion

The purpose of this chapter was to present a sense of the complexity of inter-relations among women. As such it briefly outlined the correlation between race and class and argued that these are distinct social processes. This chapter also anaiyzed three relatively distinct yet 103 converging economic circuits to elucidate the complexity of economic re/production in

Jarnaica: the household-domestic, the domestic-national, and the transnational enclave, Each

is differentiated within and fiom each other on the bais of gender, class/race, and modes of economic activities. A discussion of economic circuits and women's location wïthin them

provides another element to the contes within which women articulate rneanings of development. This is an important step in this study because these relations impinge upon

feminist efforts to engender development paradigms, the subject of the two following chapters. Chapter Six: Engendering the Dominant Paradigrn: The Consultative Group on Gender and the Women's Centre of Jamaica Foundation

Since the United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985): the demand for policy attention to wornen's needs in development has often been frarned in terms of access and

"inteCgation" into a range of development policy-making and project implementing institutions. Advocates of gender equality have undertaken concerted efforts to demonstrate why agencies and govements should be concemed about gender issues and how they can be 'fitted' into institutional processes, procedures and operations. At another level, these advocates have urged institutions to move towards more inclusive and participatory processes, greater transparency and increased accountability (Jahan 1995).

This chapter examines two distinct exarnples of such activism in Jamaica to integrate women's concerns into mainstream development endeavours and hence into the prevailing dominant paradigm: the Consultative Group on Gender which focuses primarily on mainstreaming gender into economic policy, and the Women's Centre of Jarnaica Foundation which focuses on social development within a neo-liberal paradigm.

The chapter begins by bnefly tracing the historical relationship between feminism and the Jamaican state, which has been a central arena for the distribution of development resources towards women. This discussion contextualizes the existence of feminist agency within this paradigm. The chapter then outlines the activities of the Consultative Group on

Gender, critically analyzing both the gains and limitations involved in mainstreaming gender.

Following this, the chapter focuses on the Women's Centre of Jarnaica Foundation. It maps out the Centre's main programmes, and analyzes its gains as well as limitations in integratïng a fernïnist perspective to social issues within the dominant paradigm.

104 105

The fial section of the chapter addresses the underpinnings of feminist mobilization

in this paradigm. Here I argue that the neoiiberd paradigm within which economic and social

policy is developed affects and delimits the types of feminist strategies employed to achieve

social and gender justice. A WID initiative of mainstreaming gender? for example, is viewed

by activists to be politically the most feasible strategy for advancing wornenfs economic

interests given the philosophical hegemony of market-led econornic growdi. Similarly,

efforts to empower young women thou-& education and acquisition of skills are undertaken

within a paradigm that reproduces Jamaicafs position within a highly skewed international

division of labour. Second, I argue that this neoliberal environment heightens existing

unequal social relations among women based on race and class as it impacts on the ability

of different women to participate. Furthemore, these relations of power are thernselves reproduced by the forms of feminist strategies ernployed in a neoliberal paradizgn.

6.1 Mainstreaming Gender: The Historical Antecedents

Mainstreaming gender issues into development agencies and policies is a major WiD policy initiative of the past decade, reflecting the desire for gender issues to be part of the mainstream.

... al1 policies and programs that emanate fiom government should look at the differential impact of these policies and programs on wornen and on men ...When we are talking about mainstrearning we are rneaning that it would be automatic afier a while that this would be considered (Vassell, interview).

It signifies a push towards systematic procedures and mechanisms within organizations for explicitly taking into account the gender dimensions of policy making and programme design and implementation (Baden and Goetz 1997; Kabeer and Subrahmanian 1996). Jahan (1 995) 106

identifies two broad approaches to rnainstreaming gender. The first, the 'integrationist'

approach, builds gender issues within existing development paradigms. In other words,

women are 'fitted' into as many sectors and programmes as possible. but sector and

programme priorities do not change because of gender considerations. The second approach,

'agenda-setting' implies the transformation of the existing development agenda with a gender

perspective. It is not simply women as individu& but women's 'agenda' which gets

recognition from the rnainstream.

h integrationist approach to mainstreaming gender into Jamaicars National

industrial Pulicy (NIP) is a significant example of feminist strategies to engender the

dominant paradigm. The Consultative Group on Gender (CGG)' an initiative of an informal

group of women fiom various professions, came together in 1995 and sought "to influence the adoption of a gender perspective in the formulation and implementation of the National

Industrial Policy of Jamaica" (Vasseil, Hamilton and Narcisse 1996: 1).

After dl these years of gender agitation and so on, the Industrial Policy had no mention of gender in it. So a group of women got together and said, "But look ...how would gender fit into the Industrial Policy? In fact with such a large fernale labour force... how corne you could write an Industriai Policy and not mention gender?" (McKenzie, interview)

The reference in the above quote to "al1 these years of gender agitation" is significant as the emergence of the CGG and its specific goal of integrating women into a national economic policy are part of a historical continuum of Jarnaican women pressing their concerns and interests on the state. 6.1.1 Antecedents: The roie of women's pressure groups

Three main patterns of women's formal political mobilization can be discemed from history. The fnst is the connection with anti-colonial stniggles and nationalist movements.

An organized movement of women for economic- social and political justice emerged and developed against the background of nationalist organizations and anti-colonial struggles that shook the Caribbean region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many women involved with the Universai Negro Improvement Association, led by Marcus Garvey, linked the struggle for women's emancipation to the stmggle for racial equality and anti-colonialism.

They saw themselves as establishing a place for women within the developing national identity of their country. Participation of women in the leadership of UNTA is one of its most saiking features. active at the local level and at the level of the executive. Garveyite women both parcicipated in and led a movement which immersed them in public Me. From the ranks of the UNIA emerged a significant group of black middle class women who lobbied against discrimination against black women in the civil service, for the nght to education, and for political participation, as well as women of the working class who helped to organize the early labour movement of the 1930s (Reddock 1990; Ford-Smith 1988).

A second antecedent occurred in the political mobilization of middle class women around traditional feminine identities. This occurred under the auspices of the Jarnaica

Federation of Women (JFW), established in 1944 by the Colonial Development and Welfare

Office. The objectives of the JFW were to improve the economic conditions of women of the rural peasantry by encouragement of cottage industry and craft; to stress the value of family life; and to encourage voluntary social services. It consciously promoted an ideology of 108

'wornan' as housewife prirnarily committed to the welfare of her farnily?to the institution of

mariage, and to doing voluntary social work (French 1988). 'The JFW spread the domestic

ideal so far and so deep "that even today, many women throughout Jamaica still identim

women organizing with the activities of making jarns and jellies and the crocheting of

doilies" (Ford-Smith 1997: 245).

Finally. the third antecedent is that of emancipatory women's organizations. When the PNP came to power in 1972, there was no governmental policy on women and no

specific procedures or mechanisms for addressing issues related to the roles and status of

women (Blake 1984). Moreover, women's organizations were rnainly linked to the political

parties as women's auxiliaries. The PNP's Election Manifest0 did not identify women as a separate and distinct interest group (Henry 1986). Nonetheless, its search for new models of development based on principles of equity, social justice and politicai participation stimulated analysis of women's disadvantaged position dirough a political economic and systemic framework (Henry 1986). Indeed this second wave ferninist movement intersected with key issues of post-independence discourse in Jarnaica, namely race and class

inequalities, their alleviation by state intervention! and the contiming existence of colonial economic and political forces (Baksh-Soodeen 1998).

Thus the 1960s and 1970s witnessed attempts to define wornen as active participants in creating a new social and political agenda for Jamaica. Ln this vein. the PNP Women's

Movement (PNPWM), under the leadership of Beverly Anderson-Manley, sem-ed as a strong

pressure group advocating leadership roles for women within the party and lobbying for reformist legislation to improve women's status. It sought fundamental structural changes, linking the struggle for ending the oppression of women with the stniggle for bnnging into

existence a democratic socialist Jarnaica. The Cornmittee of Women for Progress. a Mai7ust-

feminist movemem promoted radical economic structural transformation as the prerequisite

for the genuine liberation of women. It collaborated with the PNPWM on legislative and

refomiist issues. Between 1976 and 1979, vocal groups of women emerged opposing PNP policies. Groups such as the Women's Freedom Movement, an affiliate of the JLPI

housewives' associations, and the Jamaican Association of Higgiers found Legitimacy arnong the populace due to the deteriorating materid and social conditions of Jarnaican society

(Henry 1986; Kafian 1985).

By the mid-1970s' then, female collective action as a social and political force was an established component of the Jamaican landscape. Commenting on the impact of this agitation and organizing, Ford-Smith remarks

1 wouldn't Say that the impact was the state primarily although the state did listen in some cases ...I think the impact was on women and on men. The impact had to do with how the work, the critical work reconstituted peopie's vision of what was going on and I think there was an impact there. 1thuik it also heiped to raise to the level of public debate some of the questions that people were asking. So in that sense I think it had an impact (Ford-Smith, interview).

The penod 1975-1985 wimessed a tremendous growth in women's groups and associations dedicated to improving the status of women in society (Narcisse 1996).

InstItutional Antecedents

The institutional antecedents to the curent endeavours of mainstrearning gender interests in the state emerged during this period as well in response to coherent intemal pressure from the women's movement and to the burgeoning international feminist movement. Jamaica established a Bureau of Women's Affairs (B WA) in 1973, enabling the

WID agenda to eçtablish an institutional foothold in the country's public administration. Its original fimctions included research. program irnplementation, advice on legislative maners, representation on public bodies, and identification of women's concems in goverment progams (Blake 1984: 35). Today, the primary focus of the BWA is to develop pclicy statements and instruments for the purpose of influencing the national planning process

(Goetz 1995). For example. it has produced a National Policy Staternenr on W~rnen'~

(Jamaica Bureau of Wornen's Affairs 1990), and devised a detailed Gender Monitoring

Checklis?' (Anderson-Manley 1994; Jamaica Bureau of Wornen's Anairs 1992). These two mechanisms were intended to provoke gender sensitive institutionai, policy and operational changes across the public sector in order to nake responsiveness to women's interests a routine part of each sector's activities. The Checklist was to have been piloted in two ministries but no results of this experiment have been circuiated (Goetz 1995).

Implementing these measures has encountered serious obstacles within the public

I9 Adopted by Cabinet in 1987 this document is a bnef but direct articulation of a set of gender-egalitarian principles intended as a guide to govemment policy. Specifically. it informs Jamaica's Five Year Developrnent Plan 1990-1995.

'O The Gender Monitoring Checklist was developed in response to the challenges of implementing the Narional PoZicy Statemenf. It was proposed as an instrument to establish the foundation on which specific action and work plans for translating general policy cornrnitments could be translated into real measures for change. It specifies five benchmarks against which development actions are assessed: whether sex disaggregated data is used or collected; whether the project coheres with national policy comrnitrnent; whether mechanisms exist to consult with women and men on gender issues; whether the project takes action on equity issues; and whether the context for the project is gender-sensitive, in the sense of incorporating women's specific needs (Goetz 1995; Jamaica Bureau of Women's Affairs 1992). 111

administration. Commenthg on the effectiveness of the Checklisr. one interviewee noted:

(i)t was the Bureau's way of trying to access the information diey othenvise do not know. They had tremendous difficulty getting public servants to corne to the meetings because they are almost al1 men and traditional?old civil servants who think it is a lot of rubbish anyway (Wedderburn. interview).

The Checklisr has failed in practice owing to a lack of comrnitment and conviction on the

part of the state. and to what Mahon calls the 'unequal structure of representation'. Mahon

(1977) advances the notion of 'unequal structure of representation' to exphcate the forces through which certain organs and branches of the state achieve hegemony over others. Mile

its organs and branches 'represent' various social forces, al1 representatives of the state are

not equal. This inequdity is expressed in the quality (or functions) of their representatives

so that the representatives of subordinate forces (such as women) are likely to have a more

limited mandate and impact. The low-statu quaiity of representation accorded to the Bureau of Wornen's Affairs translates practically into the lack of an operational budget, lack of staff or inadequately trained staff, no national advisory council and dependency on international

funding (Blake 1984: 40). Moreover, it has been shunted back and forth between the Ministry of Youth and Cornmunity Development and the Ministry of Social AfEairs. Only once. in response to heightened awareness due to the United Nations Conference on Women in

Mexico City in 1975, was it iocated in the office of the Prime Minister, from 1973-1978.

Since 1989, it has been located in the Ministty of Labour, Welfare and Sp~a-~~T'hisfractured experience within Jamaica's public administration has persisted under both PNP and ILP

" This is significant, given woments very high participation in the country's forma1 labour force. However, its placement here may also be due to the fact that the ministry is headed by a fernale cabinet minister, prompting a sex-typed association between her person and her appropriate functions (Goetz 1995; Blake 1984). regimes.

At a fundamental level. the functional and institutional linkage problems faced by the

Bureau emerge fkom the challenges and threat female empowerment poses to male interests and male privilege. That the prospect of female empowerment is a threat is manifested in resistance to Bureau initiatives such as the Checklist, in decisions about the Bureau's budgets and stafc in short, in the Bureau's unequal position as a representative of wornen within

Jarnaica's public administration-

6.2 Mainstreaming Gender into Economic Policy: The Consultative Group on Gender

The Consultative Group on Gender (CGG) took shape as women participated in a

Govemment of Jamaica/United Nations Deveiopment Program Conference on the National

Indzcstrial Policy (NP) held at the end of May 1995.

We were pro-active in deciding... how we could mainstream gender into policy, both in design and implementation. And so the group did some work on the issue itself and had workshops and came up with an understanding of how it could be done and there was obvious justification for it. And when the government was designing its Industrial Policy last year, after four years of going, it came to some sort of kstdrafi statement, the group made a presentation to government and said we would like a chance to show you how you can mainstrearn gender into industrial policy ....So they challenged the govemment, "Give us an oppomuiity", and the govemment took them up on it (Wedderburn, interview).

Meetings with govenunent officials and members of the goveinment's NIP working group throughout the course of the ensuing year resulted in the production of a 33 page report by the CGG for the Ministry of Lndustry (Vassell, Hamilton and Narcisse 1996). This report provides a gender analysis of the NF's overall policy matrix and of its strategic sectors as they relate to women, namely tourism, agro-processing, information technology, and apparel 113 and light manufactunng. It also proposes specific mechankms for institutionalization of state cornmitment to gender equity witSin the NIP framework.

6.2.1 Gains Achieved in Mainstreaming

The Consultative Group on Gender has had some impact in the sense that it effectively lobbied and worked to incorporate a gender analysis into the National Industrial

Poliq. It received top-level govemment endorsement of its arguments so that the overall policy rnatrix of the NIP now includes a 'Gender Perspective' as one of its pillars of social policy. Moreover, one of the CGG's specific recomrnendations for the creation of a

Commission on Gender and Social Equity is included in the NIP. Such a Commission is vïewed as a measure to strengthen the organizational fiamework for gender to be rnainstrearned and to increase accountability of institutions in government on issues of gender (Dunn, interview). It is "a way of havinp a permanent public structure that continually draws attention to gender in national policy" (McKenzie, interview).

The Commission will be able to advocate certain things, for example discrimination or a case on sexual harassrnent on the job. The government will have cornrnitted itself to certain sets of policies and have a watchdog to Say, 'Hey guys, what is happening? We have a comrnitment to this, where are you on this?' So it has a kind of watchdog role. It can advise on the change of laws and can advise on different policies that are initiated (Vassell, interview).

At the time of these interviews, the Commission was still in an embryonic stage and the terms of reference still being determined. The interview participants expressed lack of clarity and confusion on how this Commission would differ fiom the Bureau of Women's Affairs.

There was a sense that this latter has not been effective in its role because it has been consistently underfunded and understaffed. 114

Three significant elements Iay beliind the gains achieved by the CGG in

rnainstreamhg gender into economic policy. First, the work. tenacity and efforts of the CGG

involved in dernonstrating why governrnent should be concerned about gender equity. and

how these concem can be "fitted" into policy should not be underplayed. Challenging deeply

embedded gendered convictions and attitudes in public bureaucraties - where women's needs

are ofien and largely seen as a matter for private provision, not pubIic administration -is not

an easy task. As one interviewee noted,

Learning how to mainstream gender is new, apart fiom the making and dynamics of sitting down with these male technocrats, and some wornen too- who dont see gender as an issue. So that is the first kind of dynamic, and then being cornfortable enough to insist and demonstrate how you do it and it is in fact possible (Wedderburn, interview).

The politicai groundwork undertaken by these gender-policy advocates was pivotal; their efforts resulted in explicit reference to, and acknowledgement oc gender issues within the national economic policy fiarnework.

Second, the CGG strategically employed efficiency arguments to justify and recommend a gender-sensitive economic policy framework. For example. the CGG's report

States:

Understanding the condition and position of women and of men is essential for those who work to change that condition and position. If this is not the case, efforts will be misdirected and resources ineffectively used ...The detriment to the nation's development of women's marginalkation fkom power and decision-making is inconsistent with the thmst of the NP(Vassell, Hamilton and Narcisse 1996: 5,6).

Failure to recognize the role women play in development thwarts the redization of the government's stated objective of renewed growth via international competition. Frarning the appeal to rnove fiom a gender-blind to gender-aware macroeconomic policy in terrns of social and economic efficiency gains integrates gender into the dominant paradi,~rn, Hence a feminist project of change is articulated within the parameters of the dominant paradigm.

A third element behind the gains of the CGG is a certain level of opemess on the part of the Jamaican state to gender-related policy activism (Goetz 1995). This is due in part to the high visibility of women as househoid heads and economic actors. It is also due to the visible presence of Jamaican women in the international feminist arena as well as to the aforementioned history of visible agitation for women's rights in civil society and

institutionalization of WID policy.

It's like stimngs and nimblings and the way in which when something happens there is always a group of women who are ready to protest and to come out with a aievance. And a lot of this probably takes place at the level of talk shows. Even if L- people are doing it at an organized level, it cornes out in other ways ...there is a huge consciousness, whether it is situated at the grassroots level or at the woman who is educated and articulate, that makes itself felt (Mohammed, interview).

One effect has been that

Iooking at Jamaican society, i think women's voices are Zistened to. Women are regarded as a protest group who have something to protest about. In other words, their cause is regarded as legitimate (McKenzie, interview).

This raises an interesting subtext with respect to governrnent openness to feminist agency and mobilization in Jamaica. Ln the Caribbean, "the power invested in women is very mythoLogized, the idea that somehow wornen are always at the backbone of everything"

(Mohammed, interview). The image of the warrior woman, the 'rebel woman' (Mathurin

1975). as typified by Nanny, the Maroon leader of the eighteenth centq exists in the psyche of the Jarnaican people (Campbell 1988: Sistren 1987). In reality, though,

"there is another level at which women do not have the final decision making and authority to do a lot of things. But that is where power is really concretized. 1 cal1 it power with a capital P. It becomes very concretized; the decision to actually adopt an actual policy. the decision whether you change the course of a program or a project. Al1 of that is really power. Now that, I think still does not rest in the hands of women" (Mohammedl interview).

What has arisen out of this mythologizing of women's power is the notion of 'men at risk' or 'marginalization of men' (Miller 1991, 1988) whereby feminist or women's attempts to achieve parity with men in various spheres is viewed as an antagonistic measure to gain control over men (Mohammed 1998); that attempts to correct women's political and economic rnarCginalizattionis designed to punish men (Barriteau 1998). So while women are a vocal protest group, there is the perception that feminist activism is occurring within a climate of a backlash" (McNeil, interview).

6.2.2 Limitations of Mainstreaming

There are Limitations inherent in integrationist strategies of mainstreaming gender.

Prharilyl such -temes cm. but do not necessarily, lead to a feminist outcome in tems of expanding the power and autonomy of women (Goetz 1995). This argument can be elaborated upon by analyzùig the following comment by one of the key rnembers of the CGG on the establishment of the Commission on Gender and Social Equity:

There is a tending more towards gender equity within this Commission, in the terms of reference of this Commission than towards the social equity part. Yozi can very easiiy achieve gender equiiy without a broad social equiîy because you cminn-odtice things like equal opportzinity legislalion which, in practice, probably leads to an improvement in employment and wages and so on, and so will eventually have an

" An editoriai in The Szrnday Gleaner (August 18,1996: A8) about 2 boys winning first and second place in a spelling bee, with a girl coming in third, states: "It is well that we note the performance of the boys in this year's cornpetition. The fact is since the early 1960s the boys have been humiiiated in the education system by the girls. That is unhealthy in the sense that male marginalization this early signals social problems ahead". effect socially. But if you have a social equity policy you are going to have to look at al1 the disadvantaged groups in the society and make al1 policies such that there is fairness and justice to al1 groups in the society. It means fundarnentally you are changing your ideological perspective because equity across al1 social groups is not a capitalist approach, is not a fiee-market approach. You would have to fundamentally change the way the game is played if right across the board you are trying to establish a sociev that fairly treats al1 its members. There is. I think, der having agreed to set up this Commission, there is a realization that the social part rnight be a little too broad so the discussion is more around gender equity. Those of us who mode the recommenda~ionhave the view rhar gender equity is great but we i-en& wunt to transforrn this whole sociew But ifwe gain on gender- equi& ive ivill tuke it a step nt a tirne (Narcisse, interview, ernphasis added).

That gender equity cmbe "very easily achieved is indicative of a liberal feminist philosophy underpinning integrationist projects of mainstreaming gender. Such a notion obscures the fûnction of male power as a property of the rnainstreaming process. Examples abound of gendered bureaucratic resistance to womenfsprograms (Kabeer 1994; Goetz 1995; Staudt

1997). While the structure of institutions themselves and linkage problems are significant. these authors also suggest that attitudes and values play a highly critical role in shaping bureaucratic resistance. Thus

"unlike any other form of advocacy... advocacy for gender equity impinges directly on the personal beliefs and values?relationships and identities of those who will have to formulate and implement change" (Kabeer 1994: 3 6-3 7).

The failure of the Bureau of Wornen's Mairs, for exarnple, to successfilly promote. implement and sustain its gender equity mechanisms suggests more than solely persistent gender-blindness within the public administration. It also suggests the persistence of historical foundations of institutionaiized preference embedded in the substance of what bureaucraties produce, provide or control in the way of projects, programs and policies

(Staudt 1997). Thus equating gender equity with equal oppomuiity, as the quote implies, suggests a technical solution to what is essentially a political problem. An integrationist 118 approach to mainstreaming gender is thus limited in its capacity to achieve substantive objectives such as women's ernpowennent and gender equality (Jahan 1995).

The limitation of integrationist strategies to expand the power and autonomy of women also appears in their insmental objectives. As noted earlier. the feminist objective of gender equity has greater potentid for gaining political legitimacy in neo-liberal economic policies if it is hnedin tems of facilitating greater economic efficiency and contributing to the overall NIP policy mat&. What is problematic in such a strategy, however. is that gender equity is taken on board insofar as it is seen as a means to these ends. The risk of this C is that gender issues and gender equity become removed fiom the processes of social change as the last two sentences of the quote by Narcisse seem to imply. Transforming gender relations is an inte_@ part of social change as gender relations are embedded within relations of race and class. An uistnimental interest in gender equity limits its transfomative potential.

6.3 Engendering Social Welfare: The Women's Centre of Jamaica Foundation

A second example of feminist activity to engender the dominant paradigm is that of the Women's Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF), which runs a family planning prograrn geared primady to adolescent women. Its programming activities and philosophy focus on social development within a neo-liberal paradigm.

The WCJF was initially established as the Programme for Adolescent Mothers in

1978" under the auspices of the Bureau of Women's Affairs. The need for a program for

In 199 1, the status of the Programme for Adolescent Mothers was changed to that of a private Company responsible to the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Sport. Its name adolescent mothers was specificaily identified. as in 1977 over 30 per cent of total births in

Jarnaica were to teen mothers (WCJF 1995). Adolescent pregnancy presents a senous social and health problem in Jamaica. Jamaica's adolescent pregnancy rate, 1O8 births per 1'000 women aged 15 to 19? is among the highest in the Caribbean. By age 19, 40 per cent of

Jamaican women have been pregnant at least once. Most pregnancies among Jamaican teenagers are unintended. and pregnancy intempts schooling for many young women

(Jackson et al 1997).

Since its inception, the Government of Jamaica has expanded its subsidy to the

WCJF. Continued funding of the WC.JFZ4by the government reflects a key tenet of neo- liberal social policy, narnely targeting social programs to the poor. Targeting is promoted as a way to parantee that resources effectively and efficiently reach those to whom they are directed (Vilas 1996). In addressing strategies to alleviate poverty, the NIP, for example.

Outside of the Governmenf a variety of agencies, including multilateral and bilateral, non-governrnental organisations, private voluntary organisations. and cornmunity- based organisations~have been directing their efforts to reduce poverty. These efforts are supported and encouraged by Government. EIforts are being made to develop closer relationships between agencies involved so as to eliminare duplication and optimise the use of resources (Government of Jamaica 1996a: 102- 103 emphasis added).

It is Merstated that poverty alleviation is a pnority goal to be reinforced in the context of

changed to the Women Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF 1995).

' Local Jamaican donors include the Jarnaican Governrnent, the National Commercial Bank, Kiwanis Clubs and the Rotary. International donors include the ZTNFPA, UNICEF, Christian Children's Fund of Canada, USAID, World Food Programme, the British High Commission (WCJF pamphlet, no date). 120 the NIP and the targeting of social resources is one of the elements in achieving this goal

(Government of Jamaica 1W6a: 104).

The WCJF operates a Program for Adolescent Mothers (1 6 years and under). which addresses the problems associated with teenaged pregnancy. narnely interrupted education and low-employment potential. The main recipients of the WCJF progams are low-income. unemployed and un-skilied women 15-29 years of age. Its primary objective is the continued academic education of these women ando ultimately, their increased independence and empowerment. To accomplish this? an integrated Day Programme is offered at one of the seven Centresx, comprising acadernic instruction, cowelling and ski11 training.

Education is key to the program as it is viewed as the stepping Stone to independence and a means of delaying a second pregnancy (WCF 1995). Accompanying academic instruction are a variety of counselling programs for children, the young women, and men.

Skills training, the third program component, is geared towards women 17 to 25 years of age. and is compnsed of training in sewing. chicken and fish farming, cosmetology, do11 making and pillow making.

6.3.1 Gains of the WCJF

The WCJF has achieved a number of tangible gains. It was instrumental in ensuring reforms to the Education Code allowing teenaged girls to return to school after pregnancy

(McNeil, interview). Representatives of the Centre participate on various consultative

'5 There are seven main Centres and 15 Outreach stations, located in the imer city of Kingston and in rural parishes across the island. 3-21 cornmittees of fimding agencies and Government which formulate policies and programs related to population and young women's issues (Narcisse 1996). Its progams and approach are looked to as a mode1 for farnily planning by other countries in the Caribbean and in

Mca(McNeil, inteniew).

In 1994, the WCJF assisted a significant 48 per cent of mothers under 16 years

(Meighoo, Crooks and Girvan 1995: 18). The National Director notes. "Men we started, 33 per cent of the births were to teen mothers. Last year, it was 24.6 per cent" (McNeil, interview). In 1995, the WCJF undertook a tracer study to examine the effects of the

Programme for Adolescent Mo thers on the lives of the ex-participants and their families. niis study revealed that out of 126 ex-participants of the Kingston Centre, 122 completed secondary education, with 34 of these completing tertiary education. 50 out of 54 ex- participants of the Mandeville Centre completed secondary education, with 7 of these completing tertiary education. Ex-participants in the Kingston and Mandeville Centres waited an average of 5.5 years and 3.3 years respectively before havhg a second child. The study also found a high level of education among the children of ex-participants, pointing to the ripple effect of the Programme (WCJF 1995).

The philosophy of the WCJF suggests potential for women's ernpowerment. First, the

Centre addresses the social context of family planning through its counseliing progam for men. This occurs under the auspices of the "Baby Fathers Pr~gramme'"~,which aims to involve the fathers in the day to day care of their chiIdren and assist fathers to continue their

'" Baby-mother and bnby-father are terms unrnaxried partners use to refer to their childs other parent, that is, he is rny baby('s) father . education or find empioyrnent. Rendering men visible in family planning is to be

commended as it is rare for men and the principle of fatherhood to be made an issue in such

progams (Kabeer 1994). At the same time, addressing the social context of farnily planning

potentially transforms the ideology of a patnarchal nuclear family that persists in Jarnaican

society today,

If you have a man, fine. But if you don't, it is frne. You know this social condition where a wornan is supposed to have a man and if she doesn't there is something wrong with her. We are imbued with that fkorn a young age, and that's what we have to get rid of....In relationships, we have the women believing that the man should be the power in the family. It is what the woman believes is where we have to work fiom (McNeil, interview).

In their study of family laws in Jarnaica, LaFont and Pruitt argue that the intemalization of the ideal of nuclear farnily by Jarnaicans of al1 classes is nearly complete.

Cment debates about the socioeconomic problems in Jamaica often come around to blaming the Yack of family (read nuclear family) .... This scapegoat method of analysis convenientIy masks unequai distribution of wealth, unequal access to oppornrnity. and sexual and racial discrimination. Yet the belief in the importance of the nuclear family for social well-being is firmly rooted in the ideology of the establishment and continues to predominate (LaFont and Pruitt 1997: 2 19)".

Racism and economic inequality have meant that acanCaribbean men of the lower classes. for the most part, have never earned a family income sufficient to enable women to stay at home and exclusively tend to child care and domestic responsibilities. Even if men were offering to provide such financial support, it is not clear that Jamaican women would relinquish their independence (LaFont and Pruitt 1997).

Second, a strong emphasis on independence in the Centre's philosophy canies the

27 In its studies on the family and household the WICP, too, found that maniage is "regarded by al1 sectors as the 'ideal' statu (Senior 1991: 87). Also see Brown (1992) for merevidence of this ideology in Jarnaica. potential for women to re-define their sense of self and to re-shape their worlds.

The counselling is to\vards independence, statu' looking at themselves as a total woman ...Our focus is on the young women and the fact that she can bnng up her family with or without a man if she so chooses. It is al1 a matter of choice and decision and giving that woman the ammunition and the statu to be able to make a choice (McNeil, interview).

Respondents to a 1995 tracer study remarked: "'It helped me to regain rny self respect'. 'It helped me to realize I was not a failure'. 'It motivated me to reach my goal', 'Gave me a positive outlook', '1 was able to believe in rnyseif, begin life over again and look to the future"' (WCJF 1995: 17). These comments are important as low self-esteem is a trait that may be reiated to early semai activity and pregnancy (Jackson et a1 1997).

6.3.2 Limitations

In Jamaica women have to rely much more on formal education for individual mobiliv and for acquisition of higher valued and better remunerated jobs in the forma1 economy (Green 1995).

Education for women is paaicularly important in getting access to jobs. In other words, men tend to be able to climb the job ladder even if they don? have the formal qualifications. A wornan would be knocking at the door forever if she didn't have formal qualifications (McKenzie, interview).

The education of teenageci girls through the WCJF progams thus has the potential to enhance their employment oppomuiities. The impact of education as a means to ensuring adequate employment is constrained, however, by the limited structure of employment opportunities in a gender-biased economy. Women have to contend with fewer job opportunities, obtaining adequate employment only within a narrow range of occupations, and accessing incomes which are substantially lower and less predictable than men's (Levitt 124

L 99 1). Furthemore, with more formal schooling and certification than men. women still tend to have Iess status and income in their occupational and professional lives (Green 1995).

The skills training offered by the Centre (sewing, chicken and fish fming, cosmetology, doli making and pillow making) are traditional gender-typed "female" skiIls which are low-valued in terms of status and income. Furthemore, the most cornmon types of emplo yment by ex-participants of the prograrn include the teaching profession. clerks, machine operators in Free Trade Zones, and self-employment (WCJF 1995). AU of these are traditionally held female jobs. Clerks, for example, are predominantly females, with approximately four in every five clerks in Jarnaica being women (Planning Institute of

Jarnaica 1995).

The persistent and pervasive disadvantages low skilled women encounter in the labour market pose somewhat of a paradox for the Centre's philosophy of independence.

Green (1995: 90) nota that upward class accession for women in Jarnaica (and the

Caribbean generally) is mediated by gaining entry into singularZy male-defined (as well as capitdisticaily and eurocentncally defïned) social spaces. While this occurs to a far greater extent for upper and middle-class women access than for lower-class women? it is indicative that ruling class men control systems of power in Jamaican society, and control the terms under which women enter their world. The WCJF's pnmary objective, however. is the increased empowerment and independence fiom men of the young women who succeed in its programs.

The focus on increased individual choice and independence for women underscores the liberal feminist philosophical underpinnings of the WCJF. Concern lies with meeting women's individuai needs within the current econornic and social system through access to education and skill training. In this sense. the philosophy and program seek to arneliorate the realities of individual women within the structures of the dominant paradigm. Similarly. improving the range of individual choices for women is advocated in terms of its iarger social and economic impacts.

Because she really is the head of the househoid, she can do a Iot to change the development path of this country. She can do a great dea1.h terms of her choices made at the household level and bring this back out into the cornrnunity and the nation as a whole. Which cornes back to the work here. It cornes out in a recent evaluation. They did a social cost benefit anaiysis. Every dollar spent in tiùs program, society reaps at least seven dollars as a benefit from the prograrn. That is what I am talhg about to get it out into a national Levef. Women are tembly important and are important for the right reasons (McNeil- interview).

Notrvithstanduig the seemingly positive econornic impact of the WCJF's progrms. casting women and their empowerment as a resource in meeting other development goals contributes to the my.thology of female power in Jamaica, discussed in section 6.2.1. While women may derive a certain gender-specific, communiry-specific authority fiom their roles as heads of households. these roles are emernely- low-valued in the context of the total social hierarchy.

Furthemore, their power is marked by other factors than gender relations. Chapter Five demonstrated the ways in which women are subordinate to men and positioned unequally to each other with respect to economic relations. Power analyzed soiely in tems of individual decision-making fails to capture those aspects which lie outside observable decision-making processes.

6.1 Limited Room for Manoeuvre: Feminist Agency to Engender the Dominant Paradigm

Two different types of feminist mobilization have been offered as examples of the 126

lieterogeneity of feminist activism within the dominant paradigm in Jarnaica. Two specific

interiocking factors emerged from the interviews to explicate the shaping of feminist agency

in this paradigm: a neoliberal political economy which wields philosophical hegemony, and

historical class divisions within the womenrs rnovement. compounded by race.

6.4.1 Neoliberal Hegemony

The philosophical hegemony of neoliberalism shapes feminist aeencyy within the dominant paradi+m. Neoliberaiism is particulariy hegemonic in expounding a view that there are no popular alternatives to global capitalism (Robinson 1996). Compounding this is the geopolitical sphere wherein Jarnaica is located:

I think what is happening in our hemisphere is the demonstration of the danger of this unipolar worid with one dominant power. And we just happen to be in the hemisphere with that one dominant power who then determines that he is going to police you and decide?for example by the Helms-Burton law, how you operate as a country. That is raw power ... So how do you formulate development alternatives in the context of a hegemonic power in the hernisphere? (Wedderbum, interview).

This presents enormous challenges for local activism but as several interview participants noted. findin; space for manoeuvre within this paradigm is imperative:

It is importznt that feminist development groups target organizations and tq-, for example, to have a consultative group on policy that feeds their ideas,..Unless you do rliings like that you are not going to influence the kind of frarnework that will actually be deveioped (Byron, interview).

This requires critical scmtiny for the possibilities the paradigm might offer:

An al1 or nothing approach doesn't get you anywhere. And this mode1 is not going anywhere for now. So you literally have to decide how much you can work with it, what parts of it you can change (Narcisse, interview).

Strategies to advance a feminist agenda thus require a grounded sense of what is possible in a given context. It is recognized that feminist activists shouid not tum their backs on the

state. which rernains a mechanism for resource allocation.

Given that we are in this neoliberal mode1 and it is not likely to go away ...y ou have to find a way to push it to its outermost Limits ...since we cmot change the rnodel- I mean let's be frank here, you have to find ways of getting into the policy design Gom the ground level so that you can have an impact on it and hopefully get sornething out of it. But you can't get anything out of it if you corne in at the tail end when the policy is dready signed, sealed and delivered (Wedderburn, interview).

Mainstrearning gender is taken up as the politically most feasible strategy for addressing

issues of gender equity in a neoliberal paradigm. Neoliberalisrn. wielding apparent political

and economic hegemony over the Jamaican state, shapes in large part that it is liberal

feminïst initiatives which enter into state policies. It is a conservatizing force undermining

and weakening more radical feminist visions of transformation.

This conservatization is manifested in what appears to be a tension arising between engaging with the state over a concrete feminist agenda and the end goal desired. It is evident that the end goal sought by the group of femïnists involved in the CGG is development based on principles of participation, social justice and equality. The CGG report States, for example, that the incorporation of a gender perspective in the NIP will, among other things.

facilitate the promotion of a just and equitable society where men and wornen have fair and equaI access to the resources and opportunities available in the society: ensure a participatory approach of al1 key persons/contributors in the sociews development process; (and) assist the creation of a productive, just and equitable social and economic environment in which children cm be adequately nurtured (Vassell. Hamilton and Narcisse 1996: 7).

These are women who identiQ themselves as working for alternative development endeavours and who situate themselves on the "ieft" of the political spectrum. Participation by ferninists within mainstrearning gender initiatives does not mean acquiescence to a neoliberal paradigm:

The dominant model is a neoliberd one ...Econornic growth is the first aim and objective, and social concems, concems of people's welfare and social issues 2nd womenrs issues and children's issues somehow get let until you have reached some magical @me for economic growth and then you Say, "OK, now we have the figures right we can think about other things, social issues". That to me cannot be the most appropriate model. It may be a rnodei of developrnent, but certainly it is not treating the major probiems a socie~like ours faces... It is the dominant rnodei, globaily. regiondy and as a poor indebted country. We cannot do odierwise but be part of this global thing that is happening, but it doesn't mean we have to agree with what the dominant model is (Wedderburn, intenriew).

Activists hope to take a concrete feminist agenda into the nate bureaucracy and thereby broaden state accountability to women. In doing SO,however. they find themselves caught in somewhat of a dilemma by their critical stance towards neoliberal economics yet actively engaging in a poiicy process which had as its final goal the formulation of a neoliberal economic platform which is to guide Jamaica into the 21s century. The aforementioned quotes al1 imply a conviction among activists that they could not af5ord nof to engage the state in its glaring omission of women in the original NP document. However, reieing the power of domination ieads to a paralysing attitude: "nothing can be done except by chan_oing the complete system". The end goal ofjustice arnong al1 social groups therefore requires a more complex strategy than one of militant disengagement with official development efforts.

It requires transitional smategies, such as the incorporation of a gender perspective into the

NIP. to bridge the present with the future. For efforts to engender this paradigm to have any impact activists compromise more radical goals in exchange for moderate reform.

6.4.2 Sociai Relations of Power: Class and Race

While women as a whole, cornpared to men, are disadvantaged in Jarnaican society, women are socially constituted in different and unequd relations to one another. specifically

through class, correlated with race.

Class is a major: major dividing line in Jarnaica and because class and shade is so uitegrally wrapped up. poor black women donrt feel an affuiity or a trust of middle class or upper class, likely to be lighter. more educated. women (Narcisse. inteniew).

The social relations of class and race which structure women unequally in relation to one

another shape feminist agency in engendering the dominant paradigm in two specific ways.

The first is in terms of participation. Much of the visible feminist activism within this paradigm

is very solidly rniddle class, but that is not accidental. We have the time for contemplative exercises and activities. We have more access to information. We have more access to travel and dl of that so it really isn't accidental at al1 (Narcisse. interview).

The CGG, for example. was able to corne together in a very short penod of time to rvrite a report to the govemment arguing for the inclusion of a gender perspective.

Because we [the CGG] said that there are a number of things that are not being considered in this policy, there is a level of analysis that has not taken place, he [the Minister of Industry] said, "Fine, you can do it". We had 10 days in which to do it (Narcisse, interview).

The ability to undertake such a task within this tirne frame depended on a fair arnount of privilege in ternis of tirne and resources.

Observers suggest that the women's movement in Jamaica has been decimated by the economic hardships wrought by austerity rneasures, detracthg efforts from advocacy to economic survivai (Ford-Smith 1997; Goetz 1995). Furthemore, a report conducted by the

Association of Women's Organizations of Jamaica documenting the activities of a representative sarnple of women's organizations in Jamaica since 1985 found that women's 13O eroups have not been able to count on very much voluntary support as women have had to L put more time and effort into meeting personal and survival needs (Narcisse 1996: 6). The economic hardship neoliberal austerity measures irnposed on women impacted on large-scale feminist mobilization in Jarnaica namely through impinging on ability to participate. It is middle-class fernhists with time and resources who sustain and engage in lobbying and advocacy aimed at the institutional domain of policy making.

This ability to participate largely detemines that it is the voices of middle class women who are heard by policy makers and their knowledge being employed. Working class women are "represented" by middle class women participating in the creation of this knowledge.

There is a tremendous consciousness in the Jarnaican psyche of the poor and oppressed working woman. So although it would have been mainly middle class intellectual wornen that would have wrote the subrnission to the Industrial Policy. it would have been about them [working class wornen] (McKenzie? interview).

Class as a determinant of participation is more than an issue of time and access to other resources; it is aiso about representation. While rniddle-class women in one sense 'represent' working-class women to policy makers, for example, the opposite does not often occur. So, for example,

when the conferences are going on, it is still we [rniddle-class women] who are going. And it is very much about class. Aithough it may not be expressed, it is about "but you can't send so and so, they can't speak English properly. How can you send them to represent us?" (Narcisse, interview).

Thus social relations of class and race condition expectations about participation and the sense of what is possible for activism.

The historical mode of class interaction between women is one of middle-class women acting as "social mothen" and "Lady Bountiful" towards working-class women. It

is a narrative deeply rooted in the structure of colonial society; it is a mode1 central to the culture of Jamaican women's organizations throughout the twentieth century (Ford-Smith

1997: 247). One consequence of this approach is that "you dont Look at yourself. you are always acting on behaif of the other" (Ford-Smith, interview). For example,

A lot of people take the easy way out: a seminar at a posh hotel in a certain area... But the thing is, if you set out a certain thing as a goal, then if you are true to that. it means strategies. So if you want to help working class women it might mean spending tirne' more time with them. It is not every three months corne down. with the nails al1 polished and Gucci leather and Iinen and everything ...If you go in as Mary Bountifulo "oh?I am here to identiQ some women who are breast feeding", it is not going to work ...There can't be this dienation where you are here and the very people you want to reach are there (Afolashade, interview).

This quote raises the second way social relations of race and class shape feminist activism within the dominant paradigm: these relations are also themselves reconstituted through ferninist initiatives to engender development. This fact was commented upon by one member of the CGG:

I am not pushing for the emancipation of women with their briefcases and their corporate selves who join the board room with me. What we want. and that is my focus, is that we have different gates wide open. If we talk about political participation and women in parliament, that is good. But what about women at the local level? What about women in the PTA? What about the ordinary working class woman being able to Say to her employer, "1 am going to cal1 the Ministry of Labour", or not saying it but doi& it. So I think that this whole business of mainstrearning gender has to recognize that even among women there are issues to be resolved (Vassell, interview).

These issues to be resolved are unequal social relations of power. The Iast sentence points to the many wzys women are implicated in one ano ther's lives in JamaicaSas in the CO mmon relationship behveen women in the employment of dornestic workers where

some of the worst offenders of domestic helpers are women, middle and upper class women don't see the helper as another woman who is struggling to survive. She is just another worker that you abuse (Wedderbum. interview)-

A middle-class woman gains her respectabiIity fiom the social status she gains fkom not cleaning her own house and not engaging in paid work to clean the house of others. Here, the material and ideological arrangements of patriarchy and claçs expIoitation combine to structure unequd social relations between women. The "business of mainstreaming gender" thus contains a tension: while it works to subvert unequal gender relations, mainstreaming itself reproduces relations of privilege and power. It is a strategy dependent on cIass privilege in terms of tirne, access to the policy-making process, standard english? access to cornputer technology, and so on.

In a similar fashion. the privilege of feminist activists in this paradigm is recreated through a hierarchy of sites of activism.

Political work is a lot of sacrifice. And 1think there is a realization that change will not corne unless we do it ourselves. And we know it theoretically but we do not apply it practically. The work needs to be linked to what is happening on the ground (VasseIl, interview).

Another interview participant stated,

The question of why it is that we have been more active at an international level than at a local level goes to the heart of how we have been exercising privilege and power. It is much easier to go to the UN. It is nicer too, much higher profile to go to the UN and make a grand speech that is full of human development ideas. It is rnuch harder to go back to Jamaica and do the nitty gritty work. It is not glamorous. It is hard work. People can be abusive. It is slower moving. You have to be satisfied with tiny incrernental change. It can be physically threatening. It is harder, much harder. Now 1 accept that there are different fields of action and that some people are better placed at different ievels. 1 don't have a problem with that. But when as a whole group we are tending to be at one level and not at the other then it means that we are avoiding something (Narcisse, interview).

What is being avoided, it is suçgested, is an examination and dialogue on 133 how power and privilege are exercised.

My observation is that amongst Caribbean feminists we are not dissecting this thing. We are not self-evaluating our relationship and use of power. Our relationship to power and our use of power once we have it (Narcisse, interview).

Women are at the crossroads of many intersecting and at times contradictory relations of oppression. Through engendering the dominant paradigm, middle-class women are engaged in a process in which their identities, ability to participate and legitirnacy of their arguments to policy makers are constituted by unequal social relations, while at the sarne time are being reproduced by such relations. nie feminist project of engendering the dominant paradigm must itself proceed with an eye for complicity in interlocking systerns of domination and oppression. As one inte~ewparticipant noted,

That is why feminist discoune is so revolutionary. Because it is talkïng about change from within. From my perspective. it must talk about change from within. And therefore it haimplications for altering ail forrns of subordination. So it is not only a question of women's emancipation but emancipation from ail kinds of oppression: sexism?classism. racism. So it is a liberatory, emancipatory task (Vassell' interview).

6.5 Conclusions

This chapter has exarnined two distinct efforts by ferninists to integrate gender issues into the prevailing dominant paradigm, narnely the Consultative Group on Gender and the

Women's Centre of Jamaica Foundation. Each has attained tangible results and gains- The

CGG achieved explicit reference to and acknowledgement of gender and women's interests wihthe national economic policy fiarnework, a task fiaught with challenges not the least of which is confronting male bias, conservative attitudes and sexist stereotypes. For its part, the WCJF successfully addresses a specific, on-going need arising fiom teenaged pregnancy, 134 namely the interrupted edücation of young women. This is not a period in Jarnaican histoiy of radical efforts to transform the class. racial. and gender inequalities of Jarnaican society.

Indeed, there appears to be limited room for manoeuvre for feminists working in this paradigm. Visions of more radical change are replaced by liberal feminist strategies which focus on integration and women as individuals.

Both groups employ efficiency arguments to justi& and rationalize support for their efforts. The CGG framed its arguments for a gender-sensitive economic policy in tems of facilitating greater economic efficiency and contributhg to the overall success of the policy ma&. Similarly, providing continued education, thereby improving the range of individual choices for women and hence their empowerment, is advocated in terms of the social and economic impacts it has on the country's overall development. While such arguments prove to be poiitically the most feasible given the current political economic contex&particularly for the CGG, they are also the least challenging to decision-rnakers and others in positions of influence and power.

Integrationist strategies to mainstrearn gender work for change within a given political conte=; they do not seek to overtly challenge the labour market structures into which women are integrated. The Jamaican state's belief in the fiee-market economy and international cornpetition as the appropnate path for the country's fiiture, as operationalized by the NP, reproduces Jamaica's location within a highly skewed international division of labour. The skills training of the WCJF enabie access to employment at the iow-end of this division of labour in terms of status and income. This poses important limitations to the

Centre's goals of empowerment, and independence fiom men given the patriarchal and class 135

bias of dlthree economic circuits,

The Jarnaican state has waxed and waned in its support for fomal ferninist demands

of equaiity. While it has endorsed national machinery and policy mechanisms. at the same

time it has not provided tangible resources nor support to render these effective tools for

change. The shiftuig role of the Jamaican state, from being a vehicle for social development

to a promoter of international cornpetition, will pose new challenges to feminist agency

within the dominant paradip.

This chapter pointed to the important costs of not inserting a ferninist analysis into

this pa~adi~gn.Not taking advantage of any openings to influence and redirect policy results in missed opportunities to challenge assumptions of gender neutrality in development poLicy and practice. By providing a gender analysis in the NIP which has ramifications for women

in al1 economic circuits, the CGG insists that the state recognize women's labour as key to the NIP, and seeks to eke out some tangible benefits for women in it. As was stated by several interview participants, an "al1 or nothing" approach does not get one anywhere and

is neither strategic nor pragmatic.

These research findings calls for a re-assessrnent of where exactly transformation is found. There is a dichotomy between integration and &ansformation; perhaps it is more pertinent to speak of a continuum between the two in which the act of transformation is more of a process than a &ed goal. Both groups engender the paradiam with a view fo tramform~ building bridges between what is and what could be. Building these bridges with the view

to transformation requires assessing the opportunities for action and pressing home one's

gains where possible. Transformation also requires attentiveness to the ways in which 13 6

relations of privilege and power are reproduced by feminist engagements with deveIopment.

Relations of pnvilege allow certain groups of women in Jarnaica to intervene on behalf of

other women to build bridges with the purpose of encouraging equality and empowerment.

Yet, as these research fmdings suggest, problematizing the process of bridge building, that

is. exarninuig one's own complicity in relations of oppression, creates space for personal transformation and hence more grounded political practices. Chapter Seven: Feminist Visions in a Transformative Paradigrn: The Sistren Theatre Collective

Caribbean feminism has been central in shaping the constitution of transformative meanings of development throughout the region. It has been noted that some of the most important theoretical and practical contributions lie in gender anaiysis and feminist-oriented development work (Lewis 1994). They have disclosed the

geopolitical. Eurocenûic, masculinist politics of developmentoand the specific ways economic development policies have produced differïng outcornes for women (Barriteau 1995: 143).

This chapter anaiyzes one contemporary instance of feminist agency contnbuting to transfomative meanings of development in Jarnaica, the S istren Theatre Collective.

As discussed in Chapter Three, a transformative paradigm of development in the

Caribbean is heterogeneous in its make-up. Actors such as development-oriented NGOs work at national, regional and international levels to offer alternative positions on macro- economic issues facing the region. They are also connected with grassroots organizations and popular developrnent efforts. The Sistren Theatre Collective is one such organization, operating primarily in the realm of culture. Sistren emphasizes the arts as a terrain of stmggle whereby meaning is given to the economic and political processes of development.

Chapter Seven briefly discusses Sistren's history and current programming activities.

With reference to Sistren's approach and work, the chapter then systematically analyzes how

Sistren engenders three principle tenets of a Caribbean transformative paradigm as discusssd in Chapter Three, namely self-determination through local knowledge, equity, and participation. By facilitating processes whereby meanings of "development" are worked through the level of popular culture, Sistren expands the parameters of transformation

137 beyond the realm of econornics so that non-economic sites of transformation are also

included within it. The chapter then examines some of the specific challenges posed by a

neoliberal economy to Sistren's work. specifically the miqinalization of culture as a source

of knowledge and commodification of culture. Finally, the chapter argues that Sistren is a

catalyst for subverting relations of domination within ferninist activism in Jamaica.

7.1 Sistren Theatre Coflective

The Sistren Theatre Collective was bom in a moment of Jamaican history in which

state facilities opened up to the broader base of Jarnaican society, and various forms of

support were made available to cornmUILity organizations. The People's National Party under the leadership of Michael Manley problematized the issue of Jamaican culture. givhg

legitimacy to popular creative work as a means of developing national identity (Ford-Smith

1997). In May 1977, twelve working-class women employed in a govenunent "Special

Ernployment Program" came together to present a short play, Downpression Get a BZow. at a cultural festival in celebration of workers' struggles in Jamaica. The play dealr with the unionization of women working in the garment industry (Femer 1986). Drawing upon a Long tradition of story-telling which has always preserved the history of Caribbean women. the formation of Sistren out of the SEP provided an organizational space in which working class women gained the strength to question their experiences (Ford-Smith 1997).

In any development, people have to be aware of what it is that is causing non- development- In Sistren there was a lot of consciousness raising and he1ping women to analyze why it is that certain problems affect them certain ways and what they cm do about it (Afolashade, interview).

The organized women's movement of the time provided the context out of which Sistren grew because it legitimized women's examination of their own struggles.

We came together out of a particular moment. 1 think the moment has a lot to do with it. We came together around a national agenda. In other words, 1thïnk we were able to have our individual differences in the moment we were formed subsumed under a desire for greater equality within the nation (Ford-Smith, interview).

At the sarne time, "Sistren has been a very important part of the emergence of the feminist movement in Jarnaica" (Mohammed, interview). Sistren was one of the first autonomous women's groups not Iinked officially to any party. Moreover, through its activities it has brought to light many of women's hidden experiences. It intimates the potential for "rebel consciousness" (Ford-Smith 1997: 219) from the purely personai to the politicai that is the usuai consequence of processes of communal disclosure.

Sistren's members are primarily black working-class women. It supports various other women's groups.

Any work that other women's groups are doing we make sure we support it. So in terms of networking and collaborating, that is an active area in Sistren, to support other women's groups. When the govemment was passing the Bill against domestic violence. we would make sure that we would sign that petition (Afolashade. interview).

Today Sistren administers a professional theatre group, a popular education project using drarna as its main tool, a textile project, a quarterly magazine, and a research project (Sistren

1995). It has begun an Adolescent Motivation Programme to train teenagers to facilitate workshops in schools on issues of adolescent sexuality, health and career choices

(Afolashade, interview). Over the past two decades. Sistren has received international financial support as an organization addressing the concems of women as a priority. and is the object of feminist research (Gilbert and Tompkins 1996; Di Cenzo and Bennett 1902;

Cobharn 1990; Ferner 1986). 140

7.2 Engendering the Transfomative Paradigm

Sistren engenders three central principles of a transfomative paradigm discussed in

Chapter Three. First the methodolo~of 'testimonies' employed by Sistren generates local knowledge concerning development. Foregrounding this knowledge contributes to the overali process and goal of self-determination in tuio ways. First, testirnonies provide a venue for women. who are politically, educationally, socially and economically marginaiized to participate in the creation of alternatives. Sistren's theatrical productions are based on the personal experiences and testimonies of women. Drawing from the lived experiences of its rnembeao the organization creates knowledge and imparts it to a broader audience. It is

"social knowledge integral to the ordinary people, the social knowledge of women that

Sistren uses in their work (Wedderburn, interview).

The publication Lionheart Gd: Life S~loriesof Jmaican Wornen (Sistren 1 987)

was written as a campaign book. It was written to Say this is how women are oppressed. These are examples of working class womenrs oppression, this is how they deal with it and this is the result of trying to change it. It was written to convince Caribbean people that worlÿng class women have a gendered problem. Well. 1 did include middle-class women. It was a national lens then, that Jamaican women have a problem and that thïs problem is a gendered problem (Ford-Smith. interview).

The text, with three exceptions. is the product of a dialogue in Jarnaican and English between each woman of Sistren and Honor Ford-Smith, the founding Artistic Director. She transcribed the testimonies, shaping women's responses to three leading questions: How did you first becorne aware of the fact that you were oppressed as a woman? How did that experience affect your life? How have you tried to change it? (Sifien 1987: 15). The voices in the book reverberate with the impact of development on women, charting the themes of economics, migration, sexualify, motherhood, and male violence. They also are testimonies to the processes of persona1 transformation and collective political consciousness.

Second: Sistren highlights cultural production as a site of knowledge where

alternatives and social change are envisioned. The meaning of self-determination is thus

pushed beyond the economic realrn to include cultural determinants. This aspect is

particularly important because

Jamaica is a very open society, very open, with the impact of North Amencan culture and images ...What it does is create a great deal of confusion about who [youth] are, identity, issues of seif-image (Wedderburn, interview).

Furthemore, "the social consciousness is anything that comes from Amenca is airight. We are penetrated in tems of the culture so much by America" (Afolashade, interview). One interview participant noted that alternatives that are advanced must be part of and worked through the specific expenences of a cornmunity (Harris, interview). Hence part of the strategy and process of building alternatives

means being able to theorize what that moment of change woufd look like in terms of what people's desires are,..So we saw it, for example, in Iarnaica in the 1970s when we tried to instigate some kind of social change, where people's desires are very much based on the market. In other words, a family that eats Comflakes for breakfast every morning and then suddeniy "1 can't get Comflakes". well that is a big problem ....If 1 want to change how the society hctions 1 also have to be able to understand how people's desires are produced and what that means in terms of the kinds of change you are gohg to instigate (Ford-Smith, interview).

Sistren emphasizes culture as an instrument through which meanings of development evolve and are worked through. Facilitating the understanding of the expenences of Jamaican working-class women, Sistren brings "mother tongue, mother culture. mother wit - the feminised discourse of voice, identity and native knowledge" (Cooper 1993: 3) to the forefiont of goals of self-determination.

Sistren has developed a participatory approach to working with Caribbean women. We try to make our research benefit women so they cmsee, whatever theme we do it around, how it afEects them and what they cmdo about it (Afolashade. interview).

It worked extensively, for example, with sugar workers in researching and producing the play

The Case of Iris Armstrong which documents their working conditions and demonstrates the devaluation of women's labour in relation to men's because of women's reproductive roles

(Femer 1986). Sistren works with established groups and

gives support to institutions that do research. And we take the research content and break it down into how the grassroots women would understand, by using the drarna and put it in their everyday Ianguage (Afolashade, interview).

Sistren performs almost exclusively in the Jamaican language. Its choice of linguistic medium is consistent with its mandate to produce theatre for and about the working classes.

The Ianguage of narration in Lionheart Gai is Jamaican, employing proverbs, eardiy metaphors and folk-tale structures, paaicularly repetition and apparent digression (Cooper

1993: 89). Its use of the Jamaican Ianguage is a reclarnation of sorts. a political strategy designed to give back to Jamaican women the voice that slavery and colonialism denied them

(Gilbert and Tompkins 1996).

-..the language issue is a political issue because language is central to al1 power relations. It expresses the sou1 of a people. In Our experience the development of Patwah expresses the refusal of a people to imitate a coloniser, their insistence on creation, their movement from obedience towards revolution (Sistren 1987: 17).

Along with the use of popular language, Sistren employs techniques such as popular myths, images and dramatic poetry, oral tradition, ritual, popuhr music. children's garnes. and mimed movement farniliar to Jamaicans (Gilbert and Tompkins 1996; Cobham 1990).

Its theatrïcal production QPH, for example, employs performance techniques of the Etu death ritual to recount the lives and histories of female inmates of a Kingston Almhouse who died 143 when it was destroyed by fire in 1980.

In addition to creating local knowledge and valuing the principle of participation.

Sistren also seeks to place women's experiences of development at the forefiont of the transforrnative paradip. The coIlection of stories which constitute Lionheurt Gal, and the production of plays on issues of sexuality, domestic violence, labour and history focus attention on the private areas of women's lives. They b~gto light many of women's

"hidden" expenences. mien it first emerged, Sistren's work was nohgless than the ending of a silencing of a whole group of women whom the actresses represented (Fido 1992).

Sistren challenges the split between the public and private domains, situating wornen's testirnonies as a reminder that development is a highly persond process. For exarnpIe, representations of fertility, pregnancy and rnotherhood take on political inflections in the play

BelZywoman Bangarang. Near the end of the play, nurses daim the right to strike as an expression of their right to be recognized and paid well for their work? and teenaged girls clairn the right to be sexually active and/or bear children on their own terms rather than through coercion and violence (Cobham 1990). This play raises questions about ways in which the social, biological or institutional processes of mothering may be undermined or put at risk by the economic realities of Jarnaican society.

7.2.1 Contributions

The impact of Sistren's work can be analyzed at two Ievels. At an organizational level, Sistren has received countless requests to participate in a varie@ of workshops and seminars on women's issues, locally and abroad. It has toured intemationally, performing to audiences interested in women's theatre and Carïbbean culture. One of its play. QPH. won national awards for escellence. and another. Bellpvoman Bangarang \vas honoured for its espenmental qualities (Ford-Smith 1997). Sistren has acted as a catalyst for further organizing on the part of women. supporting. for example. the development of the

Association of Women's Organizations of Jamaica in 1988." Sistren was involved with

regionalC initiatives in the development of a gendered economic analysis of structural adjustment and debt that was very much located in a Caribbean cultural identity (McMee

Sistren has tried to create spaces with which critical feminist consciousness and perspectives can be numired.

We train women to be leaders, to take on leadership role that they cm manage their meetings7they can carry out certain projects and influence the community to help and not just wait on the politicians to corne in. So developrnent of the person, the community spirit, to make sure certain qualities that we have as a people have to De maintained (Afolashade, interview).

Sistren's material talks back to the dominant classes and to men so as "to intervene in the discourses that naniralize gender hierarchies" (Gilbert and Tompkins 1996: 212).

"Money and rnaleness is where a lot of the power lies" (Molashade, interview). Persona1 ernpowerment is a means of resistance to this

Ernpowerment is through al1 fields: tqing to leam a skill. trying to be literate' trying to love yourself and develop a positive self-esteem and look out for other people and howin this worid that we can't be alone (Afdashade, interview).

Empowerment has arisen out of the practicai experiences of women working at the grassroots

'' An urnbrella organization, AWOJA's mission has been to act as a conduit for women's networking, collaboration and lobbying; to build women's capacity for organizing and bringing about changes in the condition of their lives (Narcisse 1996: 2). 145

level in many parts of the world. A ferninist understanding of empowerment includes the

'power to' and 'power within'. In the field of gender and development, Kabeer (1994) posits

that empowering strategies for women must build on the 'power within' as a necessq

adjunct to improving their abiiity to control resources, to determine agendas and make

decisions. Power fiom within entails "experiential recognition and analysis" (Kabeer 1994:

229) of issues to do with women's subordination and how it is maintainedl

I feel that if twenty five women come to our workshop and at the same time three were able to Say, "WeU, when I came to this workshop it helped me to speak out? 1 realize that 1am a person, that 1 shodd love myseifmore", 1 Siink of course that it does make a difference (Afolashade, interview).

Ernpowerment cannot be given; it has to be self-generated, which is a significant part of

Sistren's impact on women.

7.3 Marginalization and Cornmodification: Constraints of a Neo-liberal Contevt

The constituency represented with Sistren, that is, working class women. is

marginaiized in the corridors of power within the Jarnaican state and business classes. "They dont listen to us" (Afolashade, interview). The JLP banned Sistren Erom television in 1980 due to what was declared a "subversive" poern performed in its theatrical production Mana

Yah (Femer 1986). Working-class women tend not to be important stake-holders in a neo-

liberal economy. Furthemore its overarching emphasis on economics and market relations

"limits the extent to which insights produced by cultural work can even be heard" (Ford-

Smith, interview). Robinson (1996: 15) notes:

Global capitalism is tearing down al1 non-market structures that, in the past, placed limits on the accumulation ... of capital. Every corner of the globe, every nook and cranny of social life, is becoming cornmodified. This involves breaking up and cornmodiSing non-market spheres of human activity ....

This includes the tendency for cultural space to be cornmoditized. With Simen. for example. its textile project originated in pressures by international hders to be "productive1'and income-generating-g IronicdIy, the textile project has never made a profit and has been unable to develop a profile suficiently independent of the theatre. It has at times been supported by eamings from the theatre project which, contrary to predictions, eams more than any of the other areas of Sistren's work (Ford-Smith 1997).

Culturezthen, is relevant and to development only ifit produces a rnezsurable result or a market commodity. In fact,

people's ways of making rneaning in their own lives through langage and through the arts are an obstacle for development because these create arnbiguities which mess up the paradigms. So if you are going to deal with anything that has to do with the arts it must be functional... But nobody wodd tell a Torontonian that if they go to the theatre it must be useful to their understanding of plumbing (Ford-Smith, intem-ew).

Sistlen. however, places economic and political processes within the fiamework of culture. to evolve understandings of what it means to be "developed".The above quote speaks to the challenges of advancing such a project.

7.4 Social Relations of Power: Sistren as a Catalyst of Change

Located in the concrete experiences and culture of black working class women-

" Ford-Smith (1997) elaborates on how fünding fiom international aid agencies served to pressure Sistren to re-orient its cultural work to more technical development-oriented projects like textiles. It served to produce Sistren as a "women and development" project when "in fact it was created to be a project that was producing rneaning" (Ford-Smith. interview). How international fimding plays out today within Sistren couid be the subject of future research. InsuEcient evidence hinders me fiom cntically elaborating upon this. Sistren serves as a catalyst for subverting relations of domination. When it first formed.

Sistren was unique and innovative arnong Jamaican women's organizations in that it brought together middle cIass and working class women in a collective environment.

We didn't have the pyramid structure where it was top do W... We felt we had power and control just the same as the rniddle class. Where it was the pyramid, 1doubt if we could have much Say because Honor or Joan could just Say, "Well, do twelve shows" or, "1 want a show on violence" and we don't have no say in it. Whereas a democratic atmosphere was there where we had equal say (Molashade, interview).

Ford-Smith (1997) has remarked that the historieal mode of cross-class and race interactions among women is one in which middle class women minister in the image of Lady Bountiful to women of the lower classes. With Sistren, middle class women were named as resource peopIe who could bring formal educational skills while

working class members brought to the Collective popular culturd knowledge and language made invisible and inferionzed by centuries of colonization. They could teach the middle class about issues such as orality, the Jamaican language, and the lived reality of black working-class culture (Ford-Smith 1997: 238).

Formulating and negotiating new forms of class and race interactions

was very hard work, extremely hard work. And we didn't theorize difference enough to figure out what we would need to put in place in order to make the differences work together better ...In Sistren 1think a lot of codict played itsclf out around class within the Collective. And then when we appeared together a lot of questions were asked around colour. For example, 1 came under a lot of attack for being white. So what do you do with that? Hovr do you take that up within the relations of your group? (Ford-Smith, interview).

Having middle class and working class women in a collective environment raised issues of accounting for one's position and how privileges are implicated in otherrs lives. Ford-Smith

(interview) reflects her perception that middle class women "didn't interrogate our own expenence. We didn't even think it was proper for us, being good Lady Bountifds to put ourselves into the picture". This was one of the unique educational expenments of Sistren, to provide a space where hist~ricalrelations of privilege and power based on race and class could be interrogated.

Today middle class women are no longer part of the Sistren Collective.

In the early days we used to work with certain middle class women who offered certain resource skills that we didn't have at the tirne. But through time, some of us just learned or we just employ fiom the outside people with certain skills because now the rniddle class women are not with us any more (Molashade, interview).

The desires and demands of the constituency represented by Sistren continue to address relations of power and pnvilege, particularly around the hierarchy of sites of activism. For example, as Afolashade (interview) states,

And middle class women, iïke they got funding to do X things and X things. A middie class woman might have a helper to do her washing and her ironing. And they plan a workshop at a time that is not convenient for the working class women. They plan the time without consultation with these women. And the thing is. they don't speak to these women. They are doing things for these wornen but it might be over the radio. So you know there is no contact.

Sistren challenges that political practice be grounded in the communities and realities of women's lives.

Say for exampie 1am a middle class woman and 1 want to target women in the inner cities. 1would Say, "O.K. I know that the violence in the inner city is really terrible and so on and 1am &aid ....But you can't go in alone. You go in with someone who actually lives there ...And it might be that 1realize that 1don't have to keep the session at the Windham Hotel, that there is a cornrnunity centre that will do the organizing and so on... But if 1went, "O.K. put it in the paper, our workshop on breast feeding, target group: women who have babies, 9 a.m. at the Windham Hotel" and 1 send home circulars, it might not happen because women would not take the bus here. They don't know who to leave their children with and al1 of that (Afolashade. interview).

Sistren challenges on how issues of class and race are worked through. Furthemore,

If you bring a working class woman into a room full of academic women, what then are the things which you need to put in place in order for that woman to be able to put into language her insights and her analysis and not to be silenced by these other women? It is not just a question of representation. It is how it works out (Ford-Smith. interview).

"It is how it works out" voices a simila.theme raised in Chapter Six around dialogue on the exercise of power and privilege. Sistren, and the constituency it represents, play a significant role in catalyzing feminist political practice to question its intentions and examine its role in reproducing relations of privilege.

7.4 ConcIusion

This chapter examined the ways in which the Sistren Theatre Collective imbues transformative meanings of development with a gender perspective. Its use of testirnonies, its participatory approach and methodologies, and the foregrounding of women's specific experiences attest to critical feminist agency with the transformative paradigm. By focusing on and highlighting black working class womenrs material realities' their re/productive roles and the status of relationships between women and men? Sistren confkonts the androcentrïc and gendered biases inherent in development processes.

Culture as a site of generating knowledge for development processes is marginalized in a neo-liberal environment. The constituency represented by Sistren has limited ability to press its concerns and interests into macro-policy making processes; this despite the fact that these policies, such as those of structural adjustment, impact directly on the working class.

It speaks directly to issues of the nature of political practice raised in the previous chapter.

It speaks not simply to including the important perspectives of black working class women in such practices but how such inclusion can be worked out and operationalized.

Sistren's theatrical production Nana Yah drarnatizes the legend of Nanny, a 150 transported Afiican slave who escapes fiom a sugar plantation to join the Maroons in their euerilla war against the white plantocracy of eighteenth cenniry Jamaica. An Ashanti C chieftainess, Nanny is celebrated and remembered for her tactician abilities. courage. determination and magical religious powers' al1 which enabled her to out-manoeuvre the white military (Sistren 1987). ïhe histoncai "truth" of Nanny's accomplishments is never in question and in the play her death does not reduce her histoncai agency. Instead, the mernory of her resistance to a severely oppressive regime is employed as an inspiration in smiggles for social change and transformation. Sistren's unique contribution to this paradip lies in this cultural approach to social change. It creates space within which people cmcorne to evolve understandings of what it means to be "developed" and what change might look like. individually and collectively. Providing popular education works hops to cornrnunity groups as well as theatncd productions provide a means through which people corne to understand their Iives as a source of edightenment and nexus for sociai change. This space for critical consciousness, where subjectivity is challenged and re-built. is the site where the principfes articulated by various actors in the transfomative paradigm can be worked out. Chapter Eight: Conclusion

Eariy on in researching this thesis. I digressed frorn reading acadernic literature to explore Jamaican and Caribbean novels and poetry .A piece I came across by Jamaican wrïter

Christine Craig, entitled Eh's Version' resonated with me throughout this project. Tlie following is an excerpt of it:

Lawd God 1 rired fe lzear it 1 rired fe hear if so rill, A II dem big talk: 'Women are our naturd resozirces Wornerz me the backbone of this counhyt Me no bone inna no body back noi- rib outa no body side ...

Yozi can conficse, abuse an mess wid you otvrz self till yozr good an ready ro deal wid I as a real somebody.

Ti22 dat day corne Lef me alone an me rnodda an me sista an me gal-pickney.30

This poem speaks to one of the crucial facets of feminist politics: resistance. In an impassioned plea to be dealt with as a wornan in her own right, the speaker interrogates and resists the male construction of Jamaican women as ideaiized signifiers of natiorial identity.

Feminists mobilize in various sites - locdly, nationdly and around the world - to resist

'O "gal-pickney"means girl children; Poem excerpted fiom The Routledee Reader in Caribbean Literature. Alison Domeil and Sarah Lawson Welsh, eds. London: Routledge, 1996. page 301. 152 mainstream development processes. voices which persist in dislodging the patriarchal and androcentric biases of both dominant and transfomative development paradi_ms.

To explore these feminist engagements with developrnent. I focused on eliciting the salient themes and actors involved in engendering development in Jamaica. An original research preoccupation was to examine feminist contributions solely within an alternative developrnent paradigm. The interviews 1 conducted, however, shified this research focus.

They revealed important and cntical ferninist work widiin mainstream development processes which could not be ignored. In fact, expanding my research question to include a framework of both dominant and transfomative paradigms rendered the research and analytical process al1 tbat more relevant to the activities of feminists in Jarnaica.

As Geraldine Heng (1997: 30) notes, feminist theory "rnust expect to be surprised by the strategies. appearance, and forms of feminism that emerge and are effective in Third-

World contexts". While this rings true and served as a reminder not to homogenize appearances of feminism, 1 was nonetheless troubled by what 1 perceived to be a lack of radical feminist initiatives for change in Jarnaica. An entry in my research journal states:

"Not what 1expected. What is happening? How do 1 make sense of the fact that there is no

'active' alternative?" One of the findings of this research is how limited the room for radical feminist mobilization is at this particular conjuncture. The Jamaican state has embraced a philosophy of neoliberdism, operationalized in its National Industrial Policy. This embrace is not surpnsing as we are witnessing the globalization and permeation of capitalism into every nook and crmy of the globe. "Frorn a world in which capitalism was the dominant mode widùn a system of 'articulated modes of production', globalisation is brinjing about 153

a world integrated into a single capitalist mode" (Robinson 1996: 15). An element of the

hegemony neoliberalism wields is the absence of strongly supported popular alternatives to

global capitalism. An unrepenthg emphasis on the fiee market and international competition

as means of ameliorating people's lives and as sites promising a better Future serves to strengthen and perpetuate unequai social relations while concomitantly marginalizing alternative visions and knowledge systems. The cultural space created by Sistren as an

instrument through which understandings, meanings and alternatives are created is completely marginalized and de-legitimized.

The strength of neo-liberalism is reshaping the terrain of social action. This research reveals that in Jamaica one impact has been to demarcate the terrain of sociaI action aiong the lines of moderate reform, thereby consenratizing forms of ferninist agency. To have any success, strategies to engender the dominant paradigm are liberal femuiist in nature. with an emphasis on efficiency arguments and a focus on individual needs. One interesting future research initiative could be a comprehensive examination of the relationship between feminism and the state in Jamaica particularly as the nate is increasingly being divested of its responsibilities. Such a study could analyze the process of institutionalizing gender into the state' comparing the contemporq context with that of the era of democratic socialism in the 1970s. Have forms of bureaucratie resistance to gender-aware equity goals changed?

Are they operating under new constraints?

With a sense of resignation, activists view moderate refom as a strategic move in the given conte- as reflected in the attitude, "an al1 or nothing approach doesn't get you any where". Engaging with dominant neo-liberal policies does, however, point to the fact that 154 feminism is a long-terrn, multi-layered set of political practices. Stmggles to transfom society and gender relations require that feminists be actively present everywhere and at ali levels and sectors of sociev. A related future research initiative could focus on a systematic analysis of the Caribbean regional ferninist movernent, with its continual flow of information, exchange of resources and sustained dialogue, to Merexplore conservatizing trends and identw openings, conditions and ideas for potential radical activisrn.

The experiences of activists in Jarnaica raises the question of how to negotiate our w-ay through this historicai conjuncture. Social change can be abrupt, as in the case of revolutions like Cuba and Nicaragua or as with the breathtaking speed transnational capitd has cornrnodified human interaction over the iast hventy years. History teaches us that nothing stays the same for long. This is where the significance of the actors and initiatives which constitute the transfomative paradigm cornes into play: alternative principles rooted in the history of Jamaica and the Caribbean provide signposts to envisioning a more just society and consistently renew a sense of the range of possibilities.

Involvement by scholars, practitioners and activists across the globe have been ,ouided by issues of survival that women face at various historical moments. Feminist scholarship and politics that focus on women in developing societies have been historically based on a sense of common expenence and on a i~lifiedcategory labelled "women". In the past decade, however. critical scholarship and dialogue have challenged scholars and activists alike to engage in a more nuanced understanding of the conditions that structure wornen's {ives. The move away from traditional ferninist debates around tensions of difference between men and women to politicizing issues of difference between women has entangled feminist academic. 155 ethical and political involvement in the area of 'women and development'.

A centrai concern of this study kvas with dus entanglement and its implications for feminist activisrn. What the layers of activism in Jamaica reveal are the ways feminist engagements with development are embedded in. and reflective of, social relations of power and privilege. The strateu of mainstreaming çender, for example, is liberatory in its final intent yer it also reproduces unequal relations of power as it is dependent on privileged access to resources. Around the world, feminist concems and desires to grapple with issues of difference have largely centred around strategies of "inclusivity". The ways in which relations of power seep into collective action and personal practice of feminists in Jamaica si_- the necessity of much more cornplex acts than inclusivity as a way out of the existïng entanglement.

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Project Title: The Struggle for Alternative Development Paradigms in the Anglophone Caribbean: The Feminist Contribution

Principai Investigator: Suzanne Lenon: M.A- Student Norman Paterson School of Intemationai Affairs Carleton Universi@

Co~tactAddress: Norman Paterson School of International Affairs Paterson Hall Level 2A1 Carleton University 1125 CoIonel By Drive, Ottawa ON K1S 5B6

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and andyze the salient themes of the feminist contribution to alternative developrnent discourse and policies with a focus on Jamaica- This will reveal both its uniqueness as well as the points of convergence with the discourse of other social groups. More specifically, 1 am interested in examining how feminists are enga-&g with concepts of difference with respect to subjectivity, political action and power. These three concepts relate directly to the ferninist process of articulating an alternative developrnent paradigm as it is: (i) a women-centred process (subjectivity); (ii) an urgent political project based on increasing impovenshrnent and red material needs (political action); and (iii) a critique of the Westem/Northern development paradigm (power). Due to the recency of much of this work it is clear that secondary data sources are not sufficient. In order to thoroughly investigate rny chosen topic, it is thus imperative that 1 conduct interviews with key women actively involved in advancing alternative development thought and strategies.

Initial contact has been made by letter andor fax (see attached copy) with seventeen women in Kingston, Jamaica and 1 in Toronto, Ontario as 1plan to conduct 20 days of research in Kingston at the beginning of Au-pst, 1996. The women contacted were names referred to me by Canadians with extensive work and academic experience in the Caribbean as weil as by the potential interview candidates themselves. The interview candidates are drawn from the academic comunity, international development consultants, local women's organizations. and possibly fiorn curent and former representatives of the government's Women's Bureau and Caricom Wornen's Desk. Al1 people contacted are being given complete information as to the purpose of this projecc and will be given a copy of the interview questions as well as consent forms (see attached copy).

1plan to follow a semi-structured interview format by asking a series of questions organized thematically (see attached copy). The purpose of this interview process is to gain an understanding of the salient themes of ferninist development; uncover, within these themes. whether (and if so?how) feminist developrnent discourse engages with elements of difference with respect to subjectivity, political action and power: and to get a sense of the interview subject's views of the Caribbeants future directions and die role of a feminist contribution in influencing the directions taken. As the interviewee may be aware of gaps in the interview plan. other questions may arise during the interviewùesearch process.

The uifomation gained through this qualitative research process will be complemented with secondary data sources fiom both Carleton and Ottawa University Libraries as well as the IDRC and CIDA libraries. MATCH International Centre has a nurnber of documents and publications directly related to ferninisrn in the Caribbean. In Kingston, Samaica 1 have contacted the Resource Centre of the Consortium School of Graduate Studies. Mona Campus, Universi@ of West Indies.

Ail those who choose to participate in the inte~ewprocess will have the option of full c~~dentiaiityand/or anonymi~,if desired. as well as the choice to withdraw at any time. Participants also will have the option of not responding to a particular question or of not having their response recorded. Upon completion, al1 participants will have access to the results of the research project which will be denin a manner which ensures respect of requests for ~o~dentidityand anonymity. APPENDIX B: Announcement used for Recruiting Interview Participants

Address

Date

Dear

1am a graduate student in International Anairs at Carleton University, Ottawa Canada. 1 am currently working on my M.A. rhesis entitled "The Struggle for Alternative Development Paradigms in the Anglophone Caribbean: The Feminist Contribution", under the supervision of Professor Daiva Stasiulis. department of Sociology/Anthropology. My research centres on exploring the salient themes of the femùlist contribution to Jarnaican developmenf particularly with respect to alternative development paths. 1 am particularly interested in investigating the process of building alternatives, with respect to women's subjectivity? political action and power.

1 plan to corne to Jamaica in August for the purpose of conducting interviews. Your name was recommended to me by - I am thus writing to see if you urould be available to meet with me. 1 will be in Jarnaica between August 6-26. 1996. 1s this a convenient period for you? If so. is it possible to specie a date? I also wonder if you would be able to suggest names and addresses of other wornen you think would be able to contribute to my research?

Thank you for your time. 1 look forward to hearing fiom you, if possible by Jdy- If pu require Merinformation on my research or have an). questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the address, phone numbers (home and work) and fax nurnber (work) given beIow.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Lenon Address PhoneEax Numbers APPENDIX C: List of Interview Participants and Location of Interviews

Afolashade Sistren Theatre Collective Kingston, Jarnaica

Jessica Byron Lecturer. International Relations, UWI Mona Campus Kingston, Jamaica

Leith Dunn International Development Consultant Kingston, Jarnaica

Honor Ford-Smith Co-founder of Sistren Theatre CoIlective Toronto, Ontario

Dr. Nesha Hanif Professor, University of Michigan Kingston, Jamaica

Sonja Harris Social Planner Kingston. Jamaica

Hermione McKenzie Senior Lecturer, Dept of Sociology and Social Work, UWI Mona Campus Kingston, Jamaica

Pamela McNeil National Director, Women's Centre of Jamaica Foundation Kingston, Jamaica

Patricia Mohammed Director, Centre for Gender and Development Studies, UWI Mona Campus Kingston Jamaica

Carol Narcisse Former Coordinator of Association of Women's Organizations of Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica Linette Vassell Social Deveioprnent Consultant and Historian Kingston, Jmaica

Judith Wedderburn Executive Director, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Jamaica Office Kingston, Iamaica APPENDIX D: Interview Questionnaire

Themes of ferninisi development discour-se

I What do you see as the curent (dominant) developrnent paradigm (model) in Jarnaica?

* Cm you describe the centrai points of alternatives to the current model of development that are currently being put forth? Which groups are doing this work?

* Cmyou describe the key themes of feminist contributions to the formulation of development alternatives? Can you give some examples of how these translate into practical alternatives?

* Do you see feminist development discourse as having any impact or influence upon officia1 development policies and goals?

Issues of dzrerence

* Does feminist development discourse account for differences among women?

* What are differences based on?

* Which are the most important? Are they fundamental? (ie, irreconcilable)

* The knowledge of which women forms the basis for feminist development discourse?

9 How do women corne together for the purposes of political action given their differences?

* How do you understand the concept of power with respect to formulating development alternatives? APPENDIX E: Consent Forms

CONSENT FORM #1

Project Title: The Stniggle for Alternative Development Paradigms-in the Anglophone Caribbean: The Feminist Contribution

Principal Investigator: Suzanne Lenon, M.A. Student Norman Paterson SchooI of International Mairs Carleton University

Contact Address: Noman Paterson SchooI of International Affairs Paterson Hall Level2A, Carleton University 1 125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa ON K1 S 5B6

The purpose of the interview is to gain a deeper understanding of the salient themes of the feminist contribution to alternative development discourse and policies in Jamaica. More specifically, 1am interested in explorhg how feminist development discourse accounts for differences among women, partïcularly in the areas of subjectivity, political action and power.

The interview rnay last any where from 60 to 120 minutes, and its location will be chosen by the interview subject.

The interviews are the source of primary data for research for my MA. thesis. This thesis will be available to the general public via the Carleton University Library and the National Library of Canada Ottawa.

Participants have the option of requesting that any or ail information given remain fully confidentid and\or anonymous as well as the choice to withdraw from the interview at any time. Participants also have the option of not responding to a particular question or of not having their response recorded. If the interviewee requests confidentiaiity at any point in the research process, the tape recorder will be shut off, no notes wil1 be taken. and the words spoken will not appear in the M.A. thesis. If the inte~eweerequests anonymity, she wi1I be assigned a letter of the alphabet (eg. Interviewee "A") to be used consistently after any of her quotes used in the thesis.

Signing this form indicates consent to participate in an inte~ewwith the Principal Investigator.

If you require merinformation, please do not hesitate to contact Suzanne Lenon at the above address. You may also contact the supervisor of this project, Professor Daiva Srasiulis, Department of Sociology at Carleton University (Tel: (613) 520-2600, ext. 1098). 1: have read the above, and consent participation in this interview.

Signature: Date:

Organization:

Signature of researcher: Date: CONSENT FORM #2

1, give rny consent that the interview be tape-recorded.

Signature: Date:

Organization:

Signature of researcher: Date: CONSENT FORM ff3

consent to my narne being used in the writing and pubiication of inte~ewresults

-prefer to remain anonymous and understand that this anonymity wili be hlly ensured.

Signature : Date:

Organization:

Signature of researcher: Date: IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (QA-3)

APPLlED - IMAGE. lnc -= 1653 East Main Street --- - Rochester. NY 14609 USA ------Phone: 716/482-0300 ---- Fa: 71 61268-5989